IBM and US State Department Lead Telemedicine Project in Pakistan

Sick patients in remote Pakistani villages can now get high quality medical services that were previously lacking or absent via an Internet-based program provided by the U.S. Department of State and IBM, its private sector partner. The Pakistan Telemedicine Project provides an extensive array of healthcare consultation and education via the Internet. The subject areas include: pre-operative planning and follow-up; cardiac assessment; ophthalmology, dermatology, radiology, infectious disease, and pre-natal evaluations; and medical triage for traumas and acute illnesses.

Modernizing America’s Child Welfare Data Collection System

Keeping track of the services received by the more than 500,000 children in America’s child welfare system is a daunting task. So too is the state-by-state assessment and evaluation process--the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs)--which is conducted by the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Until recently, the data collection system had been paper-based, which made data analysis tedious, time-consuming, and difficult.

Under a contract with the Children’s Bureau, JBS International, Inc., an award-winning, women-owned business based in Bethesda, Maryland, converted the outmoded paper-based system to an automated, state-of-the-art data management system. The new automated system enables HHS reviewers working on site in each state to collect and upload raw review data instantly to a central server. Further, the system presents the data in user-friendly formats and generates automated reports that the Children’s Bureau uses to analyze the results.

For this work, JBS received an award from HHS’s Assistant Secretary, who noted the process that JBS developed “greatly improved the accuracy, consistency, and usefulness of the review information in all states.”

The new system greatly enhances the federal government’s ability to help states improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families in their child welfare programs. Analysis of the results provides an opportunity for states to improve the future outcomes of the children in their care and the services available to them and their families.

“Knowing that our work is improving the delivery of vital services to children in need is personally and professionally gratifying,” said Jerri Shaw, President of JBS. “As a company with expertise in social and health policy programs and the application of information technology, designing this system for the Children’s Bureau was a perfect fit.”

JBS’s new comprehensive information and learning system is Web-based and provides a single source for information on reviews and e-training as well as updates, tutorials, video, and information on the history and context of the CFSR process. The new web portal also enables participants to learn about and practice using the data management system before participating in a review. The password-protected portal was developed in collaboration with the Children’s Bureau and JBS’s child welfare, training, and curriculum professionals; information technology staff; and content editors.

Simulation Training Saves Lives on the Battlefield

One of the major challenges the U.S. Army faces in Afghanistan and Iraq is reducing the number of soldiers dying on the battlefield. To reduce the mortality rate, the Army needed to obtain a standardized, state-of-the-art simulation training program not just for medics, but for any soldier who could give critical first aid to comrades wounded in the immediate aftermath of a roadside bombing, an ambush or full-scale battle.

CSC, a world leader in applying information technology to solve critical problems, was awarded a competitive three-year, GSA indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to run the Army’s Medical Simulation Training Centers (MTSC). For the Army, CSC created a comprehensive program that provides training, lesson planning, and development of course materials; cognitive and psychomotor assessment skills for professional and non-professional certifications; and simulated war scenarios as realistic as life. In May 2008, as a team member of the Raytheon-led Warfighter Training Alliance on the Warfighter FOCUS contract, CSC was awarded a 10-year fixed-price award fee and time and materials contract to continue its support to the MSTCs until April 2017.

Reducing the Gap between Cancer Research and Treatment

A breakthrough project is creating a community of experts and organizations to share critical information on cancer research which many believe has the potential to help transform cancer into a chronic, manageable disease within a decade. The project was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is managed by Booz Allen Hamilton, a leader in healthcare consulting for the federal government.

The effort—called the cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid, or caBIG—is a virtual infrastructure that connects data, research tools, standards, scientists, and organizations to form "a World Wide Web of research" that is accelerating all aspects of cancer prevention, detection, and care by reducing technical and collaborative barriers.

The Re-Greening of Iraq: How Government-Contractor Collaboration Helped Restore Critical Wetlands

The Iraq Marshlands Restoration Program (IMRP) is an example of what U.S. government engagement can achieve, even in the most demanding of circumstances, when backed by appropriate contractor expertise and committed host-country institutions.

The marshlands of southern Iraq were once a major flyway for billions of birds, a source of fish and dairy products for much of Iraq, and a natural filter for the waters of the Persian Gulf. But the wetlands were heavily drained as retaliation for their inhabitants' uprising against Saddam Hussein following the Gulf War. When Allied forces entered Iraq in 2003, the marshes were only 7 percent of their original size and the area's population had dwindled from 500,000 to 125,000.

In 2003, the international development firm DAI began work on the USAID-funded project, which aimed to tackle the environmental and developmental challenges facing the marshes and their people.

High-Flying, High-Tech Fire-Fighting Machines Save Forests, Lives and Money

In May 2007, America's wild fire season in Florida was off to an early and destructive start. And Firewatch, the U.S. Forest Service's practical and highly successful fire-fighting technology, was on the front lines helping to limit damage and save lives.

Firewatch uses rehabilitated Army helicopters equipped with cutting-edge technology to fight wildfires. Firewatch has saved numerous lives and prevented millions of dollars in damage—making it one of the federal government's most successful and cost effective programs. This high-tech Department of Agriculture program relies on helicopters that are specially equipped to provide aerial support to local, state, and federal firefighters. Each helicopter is configured with electro-optical sensors that see through smoke and haze, infrared detectors to expose the smallest hotspots, and data links that relay real-time video and topographical maps to firefighters on the ground and in command and control centers.

DynCorp International supports the Firewatch program by providing pilots and global mapping technicians, and maintaining and fueling the helicopters. U.S. Forestry Service Air Tactical Officer Stan Kubota, who works closely with the Firewatch crew, points out: "It allows us to maneuver troops into place and get ahead of the fire and be in place to stop it." The combination of technologies used by the Firewatch program allows crews to "see hotspots the size of a quarter from 8,000 feet in the air," says John Browning, who works for DynCorp as the Firewatch program director.

The Clean-up at Rocky Flats: Billions Saved in a Government/Contractor Partnership

Last June, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had certified the clean-up of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado. This was a major step forward in converting a significant part of the previously contaminated nuclear bomb production facility to a wildlife refuge. The conversion had been authorized by Congress in 2001 as part of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Act. The clean up was completed nearly decades ahead of schedule with a cost avoidance of billions of dollars.

The massive clean-up and restoration work, which included removal of buildings, removal of contaminated soil, transfer of plutonium to other facilities was managed by the U.S. Department of Energy; the project was carried out by a team led by contractor, CH2M Hill. In announcing the clean-up in 2006 the Department of Energy (DOE) said that they and CH2M Hill, "successfully partnered in a 10-year effort to complete the largest, most complex environmental cleanup project in United States history and converted an environmental liability into a community asset, completing the project nearly fifty years and $30 billion below initial estimates." As DOE's Rocky Flats Project Manager, Frazer Lockhart, put it, "this is what happens when you get the best of government working with the best of industry."

In recognizing the successful clean-up, the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world's leading not-for-profit association for the project management profession, awarded its 2006 Project of the Year to DOE's Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. In commenting on the award, Lockhart said that "Kaiser-Hill (now CH2M Hill) performed a first-class job for the government, and the public-private partnership between DOE and Kaiser-Hill paved the way for our success...We faced countless challenges on this first-of-its-kind project and this award is a tribute our joint efforts." Lockhart and his team also received a Service to America Medal from the Partnership for Public Service in recognition of their great success.

Finally, as Assistant Energy Secretary James Rispoli commented at a Senate hearing on the clean-up, "This contract (which included financial incentives for speed and performance) was clearly the flagship in being innovative in this approach." Thus, the combination of innovation, hard-work, collaboration and efficiency succeeded in getting an extraordinarily challenging job done.