AFCEA Bethesda Recognizes the Best in Government-wide Initiatives

The Bethesda Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) announced the finalists for the 10th Annual InnovateIT Awards program. AFCEA Bethesda and more than 200 government and industry colleagues will gather for the awards luncheon on June 1, 2017 at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. for the unveiling of this year’s winners.

The awards honor individuals or groups whose contributions in information technology have significance beyond their organizations. The contributions represent achievements that advance business and citizen interaction, leading to improved effectiveness, cost-savings and leadership that meet national priorities and serve as a model of excellence government-wide.

B&A’s Chief Solution Architect, John Poling, was selected as one of the finalists in the Outstanding Achievement Award – Citizen Category. John has exemplified outstanding dedication for the betterment of the federal IT community through his direct support as a contractor with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) since 2003. John has been closely involved in many critical DHS programs aimed at promoting mission enablement, increased situational awareness, optimized border management, enhanced security and overcoming operating challenges related to biometric verification/validation of travelers entering the U.S.

John’s efforts resulted in significant benefits to DHS, CBP and the IT community in the areas of digital transformation, business process automation, biometrics, mobility, user experience, cloud, shared services, security, agile transformation, team enablement and growth.

John is one of 30 finalists that have been selected across 10 award categories. You can read more about the event here and the award categories here.

Founded in 1998, the AFCEA Bethesda Chapter is an educationally based, non-profit organization which encourages greater government/industry partnerships and information exchange. The Chapter fosters networking among peers in government and industry and focuses on U.S. Civilian Agencies. The Chapter holds monthly breakfast meetings, provides annual scholarships and holds an annual charity gala, A Night for the Children, which benefits the House of Ruth, Hope for Henry Foundation and Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund. AFCEA International has designated the Bethesda Chapter as a “Model Chapter of the Year” each year since 2000. For additional information please visit www.afceabethesda.org.>

John Poling is Bart & Associates’ (B&A) Chief Solutions Architect. Heading B&A’s Research and Development team, John and his team research and evaluate technical feasibility of new product concepts and tools to enable delivery of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient solutions. Before stepping into the Chief Solutions Architect role, with B&A, John served the DHS/CBP mission for over 12 years, successfully supporting major initiatives to include United States Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) Program, Western Hemisphere Traveler Initiative (WHTI), DHS Watch List Service, Biometric Interoperability with the FBI, and the modernization of CBP’s mission critical enforcement system (TECS). John also serves as Managing Director of Agile Delivery for B&A, coaching, leading and inspiring adoption of Lean and Agile best practices across B&A and its customers.