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Agency taps IT vet to assess infrastructure
May 6, 2002 12:00 PM ETComputerworld -
Last week, NASA named former U.S. Department of Defense CIO and Computerworld columnist Paul A. Strassmann to a one-year post as senior adviser on information management and technology.
According to Brian Dunbar, a spokesman for NASA , Strassmann will work closely with NASA's top officials, including its chief financial officer and CIO, to help streamline and modernize the space agency's aging IT infrastructure, which comprises 10 field centers. Those include the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Kennedy Space Center in Florida and JPL Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Strassmann will also conduct an analysis of NASA's current IT operations and help develop and implement an agencywide IT plan, NASA officials said.
He will play a big part in the space agency's "one NASA" vision, said Dunbar, referring to NASA chief Sean O'Keefe's goal of centralizing the agency's far-flung IT and financial operations.
Strassmann will also work closely with the agency's special assistant for financial management to optimize the efficiency and operation of an ongoing program known as the Integrated Financial Management Program (IFMP). IFMP's aim is to consolidate a variety of financial and accounting systems into a single platform, Dunbar said.
In a statement released by NASA, O'Keefe said Strassmann's experience is a key reason for his appointment.
"His experience in advancing next-generation technologies and information management concepts will be vital as the agency explores a comprehensive IT strategy," O'Keefe said. "I look forward to his innovative contributions as we move to update and upgrade NASA's IT infrastructure."
When contacted at his home office in Connecticut, Strassmann said he was "under total press silence."
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