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| [January 13, 2009] |
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New "Federal IT on a Budget" Forum Focuses on Helping Uncle Sam Stretch the IT Dollar
ALEXANDRIA, Va. --(Business Wire)--
MeriTalk (www.meritalk.com), a new online community at the crossroads of information technology (IT) and public policy, today announced its Federal IT on a Budget Forum. The full-day event will bring together government IT professionals and industry thought leaders to dialogue, debate, and collaborate on how innovative technologies can stretch the Federal IT dollar. The goal of the program is to help Federal government executives reduce the cost of sustaining IT programs and thereby free up funds for critical new IT investments.
The new administration is signaling a new direction for IT's role in defining a transparent and connected 21st century government - from agency investments and management agendas to healthcare, public safety, and energy policy initiatives. While the promise for IT to drive change is exciting, the budget reality is brutal. With no new funds, IT needs to generate its own budget by changing the economics of existing programs.
Held May 21, 2009 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the Federal IT on a Budget Forum will explore how to deploy innovative IT approaches - such as open source, virtualization, and cloud computing - to create new funding within existing budgets. The forum will focus on how to make the business case for reinvesting the cost savings realized from IT reinvention to empower our nation to realize the vision of a 21st century government.
"The Federal government continuously stresses the importance of business-led architecture versus technology- or budget-driven architecture," said Pete Tseronis, deputy associate chief information officer, Department of Energy. "In light of our nation's economic downturn, fiscal prudence in IT capital planning and investment control is paramount, with a focus on innovative and transparent technology usage. We are excited to bring together government IT decision makers and thought leaders to discuss how to free-up funding for creative technology programs and establishing a collaborative and connected Federal landscape."
Structured in three tracks - open source, virtualization, and cloud computing/Software as a Service (SaaS) - the forum focuses on how agencies can deploy these enabling technologies along with other game-changing approaches to reduce the cost of sustaining IT programs. The conference tracks - delivered by government IT executives and industry experts - will allow attendees to participate in peer-to-peer information exchange. Jim Whitehurst, president and chief executive officer, Red Hat is the morning keynote. Federal IT on a Budget Forum advisory group members and speakers include:
Pete Tseronis, deputy associate chief information officer, Department of Energy, Forum Co-Chair
Eric Cole, cyber security oversight office director, Department of Energy
Jim Ghiloni, deputy office director for GWAC programs, General Services Administration
James Jones, IT specialist, IT Portfolio Management Division, Department of Interior
Andrew Krzmarzick, senior project coordinator, Business Development, Graduate School, Department of Agriculture
Branko Primetica, vice president, Global Tech Inc.
More than just another conference, the MeriTalk Federal IT on a Budget campaign will quantify the Federal IT savings opportunity and provide Federal IT executives with tangible tools to calculate their modernization opportunity as well as Federal best-practice case studies to help them build practical roadmaps to success. MeriTalk will launch its DIY Federal IT Bailout study and calculator in February 2009. Further, consistent with its Web 2.0 foundation, MeriTalk will establish five communities of practice associated with the forum - open source, virtualization, cloud computing, portfolio management, and software architecture. The goal is to empower the Federal IT community to dialogue and collaborate around these key topics prior to and beyond the May 21 event.
DLT Solutions, a value added government technology solutions provider, Red Hat, and Cisco Systems are platinum sponsors of the event. MeriTalk invites government IT professionals and industry thought leaders to attend this free, one-day event. To register for the event or for sponsorship information, please visit http://www.meritalk.com/rsvp-federal-it-forum.asp.
About MeriTalk
IT is enabling significant changes in our government. The implications for average Americans are profound. The voice of tomorrow's government today, MeriTalk is an online community at the crossroads of IT and public policy. Designed to mix new faces, new voices, and fresh perspectives from government IT, workforce, and policy leaders, MeriTalk enables new cross-cutting debate.
Developed as a partnership among the Federal Business Council; Federal Employee Defense Services; Federal Managers Association; GovLoop; National Treasury Employees Union, the largest Federal workforce union; New Ideas for Government; United Service Organizations; and WTOP/WFED radio, MeriTalk is a community site. For more information, visit www.meritalk.com.
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