The federal government, like a vast army in formation, is slow-moving and even slower to change direction. But the troops at the front — the vanguard — can clearly see the lay of the land, are the first to take action and bear the greatest risk when things go wrong.
The inaugural Vanguard Awards, presented by Federal Times, recognizes these innovation warriors — the programs, executives and unsung heroes on the front lines who see technology and acquisition trends as they emerge and move forward with purpose.
The winners were culled from more than 100 nominations from peers, supervisors and employees, chosen in consultation with the Federal Times Advisory Board — made up of current and former federal leaders — and the editorial leadership of Federal Times, C4ISRNET and Defense News.
"We created this award program to honors those in government — civilian and military — who see problems and emerging trends and immediately engage, rather than waiting for a mandate or policy directive," Federal Times Editor Aaron Boyd said at the Nov. 16 award ceremony, held during the annual CyberCon conference in Washington, D.C. "These are the programs, executives and unsung heroes taking risks on the front lines of public service every day."
Program of the Year: NCATS
The programs considered for this award were noteworthy for finding new solutions to longstanding problems and transforming the government and the nation for the better. The first Vanguard Program of the Year is an integral cybersecurity program that, by its nature, helps the entire government stay on top of the latest threats.
As part of the department's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) that helps identify and patch network vulnerabilities across the federal government, NCATS is not only a Vanguard-worthy program itself but enables other agencies to stay ahead of emerging issues, as well.
To date, the NCATS program has worked with more than 200 stakeholders, delivered more than 7,000 reports and helped resolve more than 198,000 vulnerabilities.
"NCATS is a lifeline to funding-constrained public and private sector partners, particularly among the critical infrastructure sectors," said DHS Office of Cybersecurity and Communications Assistant Secretary Andy Ozment. "Their cybersecurity expertise in current and emerging threats provides an objective, third-party perspective to help improve an organization's cybersecurity posture."
Executive of the Year: James "Hondo" Geurts
The Executive of the Year award is given to a single person that, through their vision and strength of will, pushes the boundaries of government to deliver solutions to critical problems.
In doing our due diligence on this year’s winner, Federal Times spoke with a number of colleagues who said, to a person, that we had the right man for the inaugural award.
As the leadership behind programs like SOFWERX — an incubator successfully fostering collaboration between the government and private sector to solve tough problems — and the "Ghost Program," also known as "Top Gun for acquisition," Special Operations Forces Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (SOF AT&L) Director James Geurts is "reinventing how USSOCOM invents," as one acquisition official put it.
Through these programs and other initiatives, Geurts and his teams delivered in the last year 116 aircraft/systems, 1,014 vehicles, nine maritime craft, 42,334 weapons/accessories, 235,116 operator survival items and 4,909 radios/equip — all with a permanent staff of fewer than 500 people.
Unsung Hero of the Year: Ryan Wells
In starting this awards program, Federal Times sought to ensure it was highlighting the people on the ground who are making a difference — the ones who see a problem and don’t linger, don’t wait to be asked, but act and in the process change lives.
While the other recipients of the inaugural Vanguard Awards are certainly deserving, Ryan Wells, laboratory information manager for a VA medical center in Missouri, perfectly exemplifies the true nature of this award: the ability to see a problem, identify a solution and forge ahead to get things done.
When Wells realized a colleague was forced to waste time with repetitive, rote tasks, he took it upon himself to write a program in his spare time to automate this task. That program is now being used throughout the medical center and at nearby hospitals.
"Mr. Wells was not requested to create this database," according to the nominator. "He simply recognized an opportunity to improve care provided to the veterans in southeast Missouri and the surrounding areas through utilization of technology."
Special thanks to the Federal Times Advisory Board: Dan Blair, president and CEO of the National Academy of Public Administration, former deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management; Robert Carey, vice president of Navy and Marine Corps Programs at Vencore, former principal deputy CIO at the Department of Defense; Karen Evans, national director of the US Cyber Challenge, former administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and IT, Office of Management and Budget; Beth McGrath, director of federal sector at Deloitte Consulting, former deputy chief management officer at the Department of Defense; Paul Posner, director of the Graduate Public Administration Program at George Mason University, former Government Accountability Office director of intergovernmental programs; Franklin Reeder, founder of the Center for Internet Security, former director of the White House Office of Administration; Stan Soloway, president and CEO at Celero Strategies, LLC, former Professional Services Council CEO, former deputy undersecretary of defense; Linda Springer, former Office of Personnel Management director; Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service, former deputy general counsel for litigation at the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Robert Tobias, director of business development for American University's Key Executive Leadership Programs, former president of the National Treasury Employees Union; and Steve Watkins, founder and president of Watkins Communications, former editor of Federal Times.
