MeriTalk Awards $50,000 Prize for Best Idea to Fix Government

September 14, 2011

Tools

Winner Proposes Government Asset Exchange That Could Save Tax Payers Millions

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MeriTalk (www.meritalk.com), the government IT network, yesterday announced the winners of the Merit Awards, an innovation contest challenging Americans and people throughout the world to bring forward ideas on how to use IT to improve the U.S. government. In addition to recognizing the winning entry in five categories, MeriTalk awarded the $50,000 prize to Aung Gye of the Federal Highway Administration for the best overall idea.

Aung Gye points out that many departments/agencies have assets such as vehicles, office equipment, and facilities that are not used at all times. He proposes that government organizations share these unused assets via a centralized nationwide database – minimizing the need for the acquisition of new equipment and saving agencies from unnecessary spending.

“This makes me feel very good!” said Aung Gye. “I’ve been working on this sort of innovation since I first learned about supply-chain logistics early in my career. By helping one agency use another agency’s unused automobiles, construction equipment, office space, or other government assets, we can maximize tax payer dollars and optimize the assets themselves.”

Award winners by category are as follows:

Back Office Operations: Aung Gye, Federal Highway Administration
Citizen Engagement: Daniel Kestranek, The Pennsylvania State University
Emergency Response: Ben Sottile, Department of Defense
Results Achievement: Roy Roebuck, One World Information System
Waste: Dave Schnell, North Carolina Department of Revenue
Best Overall: Aung Gye, Federal Highway Administration

A panel of 10 judges from both the public and private sectors ranked the submissions on innovative thinking, potential savings, and executability. The selection committee includes Aileen Black, Vice President, Federal, VMware, Inc.; Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google; Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.); Mary Davie, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Integrated Technology Services, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration; the Honorable Thomas M. Davis III; the Honorable Mark Forman, First Administrator for E-Government and IT, U.S. Office of Management and Budget; Vivek Kundra, former Federal Chief Information Officer; Ronnie Levine, Assistant Director, Information Resources Management, Bureau of Land Management; Steve O’Keeffe, MeriTalk; and Tom Soderstrom, IT Chief Technology Officer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“The best ideas are simple – like the Post-it Note and the wheel,” said Steve O’Keeffe, Founder of MeriTalk. “If the Department of Agriculture has a spare van and the Department of Interior needs a van, why should Interior go out and buy a new one? Congratulations to Aung Gye for pointing out the savings that were right under our noses. Let’s implement common-sense tech solutions to change the economics of Washington.”

Visit www.meritalk.com/meritawards to learn more about the winning submissions and register your profile on the site today to keep the innovation dialogue moving.

About MeriTalk

The voice of tomorrow’s government today, MeriTalk is an online community that combines professional networking and thought leadership to drive the government IT community dialogue. Developed as a partnership among the Federal Business Council, Federal Employee Defense Services, Federal Managers Association, GovLoop, USO, and WTOP/WFED radio, MeriTalk is a community network. For more information, visit www.meritalk.com or follow us on Twitter, @meritalk.