Doing Business With The Department of Education

, Chief Information Officer September 1999 "I guess I call Lexington, Ky., home first, though the state of Texas would come in a close second." Fairfax, Va. Wife, Connie; daughter Kristen, 19, is a freshman at the University of Virginia; daughter Alyssa, 14, attends Lanier Middle School in Fairfax. "The rabbit and dog are both females, too, so I'm surrounded." Reading, playing with audio equipment, and amateur astronomy. "The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life" by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander Bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Louisville; master's of science in information systems, with honors, from the Naval Postgraduate School. Luigart also serves as co-chair of the Federal CIO Council's e-government subcommittee and as the council's representative on disability and accessibility. He was a naval aviator for 21 years and received a medical retirement in 1996 from the Navy at the rank of commander.We face the same kind of challenge any large agency or private-sector corporation faces. I often say the CIO's job is 90 percent cultural and change management, and 10 percent technology. Bridging the white space across an organization to create enterprise organizations is really a technology culture of business process reinvention ? moving people from one point of comfort to another. I think that is the biggest challenge. Also, with Leave No Child Behind, we are really building that partnership with the states to build that accountability the public expects. A good track record, a history of being a partner and not a vendor. I'm looking for them to embrace the task as strongly as a member of the team and not just as someone selling me a service. [I like] out-of-the-box thinking, readiness to assume the risks as well as the rewards. Beyond the forefront right now is merged media: voice media and data over the same pipe. I see us further down that road. Twenty percent of the department is on voice over Internet protocol; I see that continuing. Installing video solutions and much more robust capabilities to support telecommuting as we expand our VPN and broadband, and more importantly, continuing to mature our relationship with states toward a consensus dataset that represents the core knowledge behind Leave No Child Behind. XXXSPLITXXX-400 Maryland Ave. SWWashington, DC 20202-0498(800) USA-LEARN [(800) 872-5327] 1980 Rod Paige 4,900 The Education Department's main goal is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence. It operates programs on every area and level of education. It serves 15,000 school districts and more than 50 million students at more than 85,000 public schools and more than 26,000 private schools. It provides grant, loan and work-study assistance to more than 8 million postsecondary students. It also promotes research and statistics and improves management of federal programs. Ten regional offices serve state and local educational systems. Eight organizations perform research and compile statistics, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.XXXSPLITXXX- $56.5 billionThe budget has more that doubled since 1996, according to the department. Details are at .XXXSPLITXXX-The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law Jan. 8, is at the top of the agency's list. It reforms the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, enacted in 1965, and redefines the federal role in K-12 education with particular aim at helping disadvantaged and minority students.XXXSPLITXXX- No Child Left Behind is spurring a lot of people into action, forming groups and movements to advance the law's initiatives. Most recently announced is the Partnership for Academic Achievement, a joint venture of the Education Department and the National Council of Negro Women, debuting March 19. More info can be found on the Web site under "ED Priorities, No Child Left Behind." The department's Web site has won awards, and it's easy to see why. Everything a person could want is right there. The site is easy to use, whether you are a vendor looking for business or a student looking for financial aid. If you are the former, go to the Web site, click on "Grants & Contracts" and right there is your primer.XXXSPLITXXX-XXXSPLITXXX-ED Net Technology Services $70 million   April 2005 Provide IT services to manage, support and continuously improve EDNet, an IT service delivery infrastructure used by Education employees. This also includes ConnectED, an intranet that provides EDNet users connectivity to the Internet, a standard office automation software suite, enterprisewide e-mail, desktop computers and peripherals, and several custom business applications and information systems. Science Applications International Corp. holds the incumbent contract. Other bidders may include Computer Sciences Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp. and TRW Inc.Internet Applications Support recompete $10 million   April 2002 To maintain the department's Web site, including document preparation, application development, maintenance, and systems evaluation. This is an 8(a) contract currently held by Allied Technology Group. Bidders include AC Technologies Inc., ACCE Inc. and Decision Systems Technology Inc.Educational Resources Information Center recompete $5 million   June 2004 Operation and maintenance of the center, which provides services to educators, administrators, researchers, librarians and policy-makers. The center provides ready access to up-to-date educational information, including critical research results, evaluation studies and policy papers, curricular and instructional materials, educational databases and statistical information.Bidders: CSC holds the incumbent contract. Other bidders include Sherikon Inc. and ORI Inc.