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October 18, 2016

MapR Forms Federal Advisory Board to Accelerate IT Modernization Efforts With Big Data Analytics

Oct. 18 — MapR Technologies, Inc., provider of the industry’s only converged data platform, today announced the formation of a Federal Advisory Board to help align U.S. government agencies with next generation technologies that will enable them to immediately harness the power of their big data. Advisors include former government executives from the defense department, intelligence community, and civilian agencies.

The MapR Federal Advisory Board is currently comprised of the following individuals:

  • Rhett Hernandez: Retired lieutenant general, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Cyber Command, and U.S. Army Human Resources Command; Currently president, CyberLens
  • Joanne Isham: Former deputy director, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, deputy director, science and technology, CIA; Currently principal, Isham Associates
  • Francis Landoff: Former chief, cryptanalsysis and exploitation services, NSA; Currently senior partner, Core Consulting
  • Brian McCauley: Former deputy assistant director international operations, FBI; currently owner/consultant, Flynn Intel Group
  • John Teeters: Former deputy CIO and acting CIO, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Currently senior vice president, Government Technology Perspectives
  • Peter Tseronis: Former CTO, Department of Energy and CTO, Department of Education; Currently founder and CEO, Dots and Bridges
  • John G. Vonglis:  Former acting assistant secretary (CFO), and chief management officer of the U.S. Air Force; Currently senior vice president, Red Apple Group
  • Jim Williams: Former acting administrator, U.S. General Services Administration; Currently, founder and CEO, Schambach and Williams Consulting

Members of the MapR Federal Advisory Board were selected for their expertise and insights into the issues impacting IT platform modernization efforts. The objective of the Board is to educate, simplify, and obtain value to the government’s data collection and data analytic stakeholders.

“The Board members are so passionate about helping the Federal Government.  They understand the mission-value of merging historical data with today’s live streaming data collection techniques,” said Doug Natal, vice president and general manager of federal operations at MapR Technologies. “With the MapR Converged Data Platform, several of the government’s important missions will experience technology improvements that have not been realized in almost 30 years.”

Recognizing the need to transform the government’s IT systems, Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) and Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) recently introduced the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2016 or the MGT Act on the House floor.  This legislation identifies that nearly 75% of the government’s IT budget is spent maintaining outdated systems that are at risk for attacks and remain largely inefficient. It also identifies cloud computing and shared multi-tenant infrastructures in the cloud or on-premise as part of this IT modernization. The U.S. government analyzes an enormous amount of data every day to determine the best course of action in military and civilian applications.  Data is valuable to a broad range of activities including cyber security, weather modeling, disease prevention, logistics, identity management, entitlement planning, and many other use cases.

“With the formation of this Advisory Board, MapR is taking a proactive step forward in making that transformation easier for government agencies,” said Peter Tseronis. “The patented MapR Converged Data Platform is uniquely architected to enhance knowledge discovery, enable new capabilities for both government and commercial entities, accelerate scientific discovery and innovation, and yield real-time intelligence from myriad datasets.”


Source: MapR

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