Ms. Deborah Diaz

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  www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/interview/list.html?topic=i - [Cached Version]
  Last Visited: 6/7/2008  

  INTERVIEW: Deborah Diaz, GSA's FirstGov chief (08:33 PM ; Vol.21, No. 8)

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  www.bisnow.com/washington_dc_women_news_story.php?p=822 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/7/2008    Last Visited: 5/22/2008  

  But for many years, it was on the to-do list of then CIO Deborah Diaz at Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate.She joined before DHS was a department, working until 2007 creating groundbreaking technologies to fight terrorism.Those were what Diaz calls 'the real cowboy days.'
  
  Deborah in her office at the USPTO, a complex which you need GPS to navigate.
  
  Today she serves as Deputy CIO for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.Long involved with the feds, she started her career in more of a Jack Kerouac than Jack Kennedy way. 'I'm from Attleboro, Mass, a small industrial town, and was one of the only people to leave at the time.I took out a huge loan and spent a year and a half abroad,' says Diaz, who picked grapes in France, worked on a kibbutz in Israel, and spent her 25th birthday in Casablanca.When she moved to Washington with her husband, a town they agreed would help both their careers, she worked for State, NATO, and the World Bank, much of her work focusing on public/private technology partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa.
  
  Diaz and co-workers.They thought about erasing the whiteboard for our picture but realized the rest of humanity would have no comprehension of their cryptic diagrams.
  
  In 2000, as a part of President Clinton's goal of creating one website for thousands of government sites, Diaz became the director of FirstGov. 'This was the first time it was ever done.We had one month to put it all together,' says Diaz.It was a wild success, as back then before Google was a verb, search engines had only 10% of government information online.During 9/11, she kept FirstGov up and running, staying in her office across the street from the White House, updating the site rather than evacuating.As Department of Homeland Security's CIO for Science and Technology, she also worked with her team on IT interoperability, transportation security machines, biometrics and wireless technologies.An example she says, are 'those puffer things' at airports that we look at with fascination as we mill around x-ray machines in our socks.
  
  Diaz holding her basket of stress relief objects. 'I always have something for people to play around with in meetings.'
  
  Diaz's caped crusader days may be over but her role in cutting edge technology certainly is not. 'We get first exposure to many different technologies -we get to test trial.' She concentrates her energies on modernizing every aspect of the agency's business systems and processes, and notes that most of USPTO's official trademark applications are done electronically. 'We want to make sure that if you're a homemaker with the latest and greatest technologies, you have a chance.'

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  www.governmentleader.com/issues/news/284-1.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/30/2007    Last Visited: 7/13/2007  

  Diaz joins USPTO as acting deputy CIO
  
  By Wade-Hahn Chan
  
  Government information technology veteran Deborah Diaz has joined the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as acting deputy chief information officer.
  
  Diaz was CIO at the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate from October 2003 until recently.She also worked in the CIO's office developing Web sites.
  
  Prior to her DHS work, Diaz was associate administrator at the General Services Administration's e-government solutions support office.
  
  She also helped develop the popular information Web portal FirstGov.gov in 2000, eventually serving as the site's associate administrator and spearheading a redesign and upgrade.

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  thesunchronicle.com/articles/2007/12/28/news/news9.txt - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/1/2007    Last Visited: 12/28/2007  

  Diaz 'a woman who means business'
  
  BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFFFriday, December 28, 2007 12:48 AM EST
  
  ATTLEBORO - She's a businesswoman turned innovator for the federal government and one of a core group that created the Department of Homeland Security.
  
  But Deborah Diaz is a mom, family woman and community and world activist too.
  
  Diaz, an Attleboro native, currently serves as deputy chief information officer for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the Department of Commerce, where she has helped streamline and upgrade the office's information technology.
  
  Last month, she was honored by the Washington Business Journal in the fourth annual "Women Who Mean Business" awards program.
  
  A 1975 graduate of Attleboro High School, the 50-year-old Diaz has lived for the past 20 years in Alexandria, Va., where she and her husband, Jose, have raised three daughters.
  ...
  "Deborah Diaz is a dedicated professional who has made incredible contributions to the USPTO, the federal government and the IT community.
  ...
  "Traveling around the world has exposed me to the extent to which one individual can make a difference," Diaz said."Rather than simply giving money, I like to be personally involved and give of my time."
  
  Diaz credits her children with influencing her interest in community affairs.
  
  When one of her daughters walked in a fundraiser for the fight against MS, Diaz plunged in and has since become a member of the board of the National Sclerosis Society.
  
  "I thought, if she can participate, so can I," Diaz said.
  
  Currently, Diaz is working to transform patent and trademark office electronic commerce systems.She is involved in a number of initiatives that seek to streamline government procedures by upgrading electronic patent and trademark submission and filing systems.
  
  Prior to joining the patent and trademark office, Diaz developed and implemented $1 billion worth of programs and information technology infrastructure at the Department of Homeland Security as part of the fight against terrorism.
  
  Working with the president's management council, she provided executive leadership to create the government's first electronic government-wide citizen portal and shepherded many e-government initiatives from concept to delivery.
  
  As an international consultant and federal official for the World Bank, State Department, World Trade Organization, NATO, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, she managed interagency initiatives for international business development, as well as environmental technology joint ventures and institutional, regulatory and business reform.
  
  Diaz is known within and without the government for her humanitarian trips abroad.
  
  Last March, she accompanied a group of high school volunteers to work in an HIV/AIDS clinic and conducted environmental cleanup in Cape Town, South Africa.She has also led volunteer teams rebuilding houses in both Nicaragua and New Orleans.
  
  Diaz's community activities including working with youth basketball and lacrosse teams.Most recently, she has become a volunteer with the Women's Center of Vienna, Va., a counseling and resource center.

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  www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46294-1.html?topic=&CMP=OTC - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/17/2008    Last Visited: 5/17/2008  

  GCN Editor-in-Chief Wyatt Kash, left, poses with nine of the 10 GCN IT Leadership award winners: Ram Murthy, Nancy Sternberg, Susan L. Keen, John Edgar, Carlos Vera, Drew Jaehing, Sheila Campbell, Deborah Diaz and Michael Butler, who were recognized at a ceremony held May 15 in Washington.
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  Deborah Diaz , Deputy and current acting chief information officer at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for her work to build an IT system capable of supporting a rapidly growing remote workforce.

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  bride-hair.surferfind.com/?t=and - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/1/2007    Last Visited: 12/1/2007  

  Deborah Diaz, Deputy Chief Information Officer for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has been named as an honoree by the Washington

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  alextimes.timberlakepublishing.com/article.asp?article= - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/25/2008    Last Visited: 2/28/2008  

  Deborah Diaz
  ...
  But Deborah Diaz is a mom, family woman and community and world activist too.
  
  Diaz currently serves as deputy chief information officer for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, where she has helped streamline and upgrade the office's information technology.
  
  Last month, she was honored by the Washington Business Journal in the fourth annual "Women Who Mean Business" awards program.
  
  The 50-year-old Diaz has lived for the past 20 years in Alexandria, where she and her husband, Jose, have raised three daughters.She has served across the country and around the world with a myriad of governmental agencies, ranging from the State Department to the World Trade Organization.
  
  But away from the office, she's spent time in the trenches combatting HIV/AIDS and helping rebuild devastated New Orleans as a volunteer after Hurricane Katrina.She has also made time to serve as a Girl Scout leader and to volunteer with youth sports programs in her own community.
  
  "Deborah Diaz is a dedicated professional who has made incredible contributions to the Patent Office, the federal government and the IT community.
  ...
  "Traveling around the world has exposed me to the extent to which one individual can make a difference," Diaz said."Rather than simply giving money, I like to be personally involved and give of my time."
  
  Diaz credits her children with influencing her interest in community affairs.When one of her daughters walked in a fundraiser for the fight against MS, Diaz plunged in and has since become a member of the board of the National Sclerosis Society."I thought, if she can participate, so can I," Diaz said.
  
  Currently, Diaz is working to transform patent and trademark office electronic commerce systems.She is involved in a number of initiatives that seek to streamline government procedures by upgrading electronic patent and trademark submission and filing systems.
  
  Prior to joining the patent and trademark office, Diaz developed and implemented $1 billion worth of programs and information technology infrastructure at the Department of Homeland Security as part of the fight against terrorism.
  
  Working with the president's management council, she provided executive leadership to create the government's first electronic government-wide citizen portal and shepherded many e-government initiatives from concept to delivery.
  
  As an international consultant and federal official for the World Bank, State Department, World Trade Organization, NATO, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, she managed interagency initiatives for international business development, as well as environmental technology joint ventures and institutional, regulatory and business reform.
  
  Diaz is known within and without the government for her humanitarian trips abroad.Last March, she accompanied a group of high school volunteers to work in an HIV/AIDS clinic and conducted environmental cleanup in Cape Town, South Africa.She has also led volunteer teams rebuilding houses in both Nicaragua and New Orleans.
  
  Diaz's community activities including working with youth basketball and lacrosse teams.Most recently, she has become a volunteer with the Women's Center of Vienna, a counseling and resource center.

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  www.gcn.com/print/27_11/46247-1.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/17/2008    Last Visited: 5/17/2008  

  Acting Chief Information Officer Deborah Diaz said USPTO has instituted 17 telework initiatives.

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  www.gcnstateandlocal.com/21_8/interview/18353-1.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/5/2002    Last Visited: 9/5/2002  

  INTERVIEW: Deborah Diaz, GSA's FirstGov chief
  
  State & Local
  
  E-gov, security occupy the states
  
  Virginia county stems a rising tide of paper
  ...
  Deborah Diaz
  
  Printer-Friendly Version E-Mail This Article
  
  ...
  Deborah Diaz has had a long career in technology.Now the deputy associate administrator for the General Services Administration's Office of FirstGov.gov, she said the challenge of making the portal the face of the government is her dream job.
  
  Diaz provides technical leadership for the FirstGov office and develops public-private partnerships to improve federal services.She also works with state and local governments to incorporate their services into FirstGov.
  
  Before joining GSA, Diaz worked for 12 years in foreign affairs agencies managing interagency initiatives for international business development, environmental technology joint ventures, and institutional and regulatory business reform projects.She developed a Web trade system using push technology for the Agency for International Development.
  
  Diaz also worked in the private sector in management positions for several companies.She received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., and a master's in the same subject from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo.
  
  GCN staff writer Jason Miller interviewed Diaz at her Washington office.
  
  GCN: How do you envision the relationship between FirstGov and USA Service, one of the Office of Management and Budget's 24 e-government initiatives, evolving over the next 18 to 24 months?
  
  DIAZ: FirstGov has taken on the responsibility of managing the USA Service e-gov initiative.The next generation of Web sites is actually the integration of all the different channels.It is what citizens are looking for, and this e-gov initiative will take Web sites, call centers and all different means of communicating, and tie them together.
  
  It has an e-mail routing component to it, and when all the e-gov initiatives are in place, it will have the capability of doing integrated case management.The business process will start from the very beginning of contact, whether it is through a call center or Web site, and integrate it in a fashion that can be personalized.It could be incorporated in the process so even if you have payment due, you have a payment engine that can actually fulfill that transaction.
  ...
  DIAZ: All 24 e-gov initiatives will be tied into FirstGov.We are scoping out all the different architectures of the entire federal government.We are a partner with all the e-gov initiatives, some more than others.
  
  We are integrating the framework and infrastructure of our vision and business plan with the different functions that the e-gov initiatives will be rolling out.Whatever application any of the initiatives rolls out has to get tied into FirstGov, so we go to as many partner meetings as possible.It goes back to [OMB associate director for IT and e-government] Mark Forman's vision of unify and simplify and have one place for citizens to find services.
  
  ...
  DIAZ: It will not be difficult.The technology is not the difficulty because of our standards and the fact we were governmentwide from the very beginning.The problem will be change management within the federal government and getting beyond the legal barriers and stovepipes that currently exist.
  
  It is very difficult to get cross-agency collaboration particularly when there hasn't been money set aside or an incentive structure established to actually put projects on that path.FirstGov broke ground in creating that cross-agency collaboration.We came up with products and sets of best practices that other people are now using.
  ...
  DIAZ: We have just launched the redesign.That set the framework so that the user would get to any client group within three clicks.Whether it was a transaction or information, the content had to be recreated in-house-all 350 pages-and we actually looked at all the information and found navigable paths by user groups and broke them down into the three channels: the citizen group, business group and government-to-government group.
  
  Soon we will procure an automated content management system.By doing that, you can then apply technology and have other people feed into your system.So if it is a local librarian or the Agriculture Department managing their content, it actually feeds into FirstGov.
  ...
  DIAZ: The budget process has been the hardest part because you have to pass the hat.
  
  GCN: How would you like to see FirstGov funded?
  
  DIAZ: I think the whole IT community-whether for e-gov initiatives or FirstGov or anything else that advances new technology-should come up with a better system for funding.Whether it is one central pot that these types of projects can draw down on or deciding in advance which agency will do what and how money will be divided, they just have to come up with a better way to do it.
  
  OMB is struggling with that right now.Mark Forman has made great progress in this area, but there still is no plan for funding.
  
  GCN: Have you ever had an agency not contribute to FirstGov?
  ...
  DIAZ: It has been difficult, particularly this year. [Agencies have] had homeland security and IT needs that were not identified two years ago in their budgeting process.They recognize that by pooling resources and coming up with common standards and a common architecture, you could save so much money.
  
  But it is difficult getting from point A to point B. That is the push back we are getting.Everyone recognizes the need and recognizes this is the thing to do; however, they have problems reconciling where the resources, both financial and human, are coming from.
  
  GCN: How much does each agency give to FirstGov?
  ...
  DIAZ: It is done using an algorithm and is based on several factors.OMB comes up with this algorithm and looks at what the agency's IT budget is and how many people they have.It is not just divided by 24 and split up.
  
  GCN: Is the budget process getting easier for the e-government initiatives?
  
  DIAZ: It is getting more attention.The judicial and congressional branches are beginning to understand-as the executive branch understands-the importance IT can play not only in bettering the lives of citizens, but in saving money.Other branches are recognizing this, so it will make the budget process easier.We will not have to sell it as much.
  
  GCN: How does your office measure FirstGov's success?
  
  ...
  DIAZ: We always have debated the metrics of the Web site itself.Everyone measures by hits, but is that a true measure of success?It is not so much how many people are using it, but whether they are happy with what they're using and if they are satisfied with the information they are finding.
  
  We went from having five people linking to FirstGov to now having more than 33,000 who think enough of FirstGov's value to automatically link back to us.Yahoo and Google direct users to us anytime a question comes up about Sept. 11.That is a high measure of our success.

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  2001 ISA Winners - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 6/22/2001    Last Visited: 4/14/2002  

  Deborah Diaz, GSA's Deputy Assistant Administrator, will accept the award.
  
  State of Minnesota for CLiCS (Cyber Linked Interactive Child Nutrition System) a comprehensive web-based government-to-government and government to business transaction processing system that has closed the digital divide between federal, state and local units of government and the food industry.

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