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There
was a time when federal employees had better computer equipment in
their offices than what they could purchase for themselves at a local
consumer electronics store. While I can’t pinpoint what year that
reality switched, it is now a firm truth that our staff can buy advanced
computers, amazing smart phones and tablet computers for their own use
while government agencies like the NRC have generally lagged behind in
what types of technology is being provided.
This
is a problem. Our staff is seeking different, better ways to work. They
want to collaborate with their peers and improve communications. Most
importantly, our staff wants to more effectively and efficiently support
the mission of the NRC wherever they are working.
So,
how do we as technology leaders respond? For the NRC, we’re taking
several actions, all in support of a longer term vision. Two of the more
immediate actions are a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative and
piloting the use of tablet PCs.
First,
what is BYOD? For the NRC, it is a voluntary program that allows
employees to use certain types of personal smart phones or tablet PCs
officially for NRC work, primarily by allowing them to connect to the
agency’s email system. There are some trade offs for staff who
participate. One is that we require the device to be properly encrypted,
just in case it is lost or stolen. This helps us make sure we’re
protecting sensitive information. We also ensure that employees
understand and agree to some new rules of behavior.
Of
note, before we went “live” with this initiative we worked with our
local chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union to reach an
agreement on how the program would work. We’ve already learned a great
deal so far, through our own trial and error, talking with other Federal
agencies and private sector companies, and participating in interagency
working groups.
If you want to know more about “BYOD” in general, you can read
new guidance published by the Federal Chief Information Officers Council and the Office of Management and Budget.
Secondly
is our pilot program for agency-issued tablet PCs to some staff in our
Region II (Atlanta, Ga.) office. For those who regularly follow NRC,
Region II is leading the agency in construction inspection. There are
new nuclear power plants now under construction in Georgia and South
Carolina, plus one being completed in Tennessee. We want to better
understand and test how tablet PCs can best support our construction
inspectors. When we evaluate how it is going in several months, I expect
very positive results, and can see NRC expanding this capability out to
other inspection functions.
I
believe that these actions are good first steps for the NRC. Simply
put, they will help us better understand how to better support our staff
and the mission. We can’t – and won’t – stop there. Today’s (and
future) consumer devices provide a wealth of untapped capabilities for
federal agencies and their staff.
Our
future actions will require us to put “mobility” at the forefront as we
modernize our IT systems, design new systems, and deliver new
capabilities and information to our staff and the public. I’m very
confident that we’re moving in the right direction. I look forward to
providing updates over the coming year as to how things are going.
Darren Ash
Chief Information Officer and
Deputy Executive Director for Corporate Management
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