Interview: Stephen R. Colgate

By GCN

| October 24, 1999

Justice Department chief information officer Stephen R. Colgate, assistant attorney general for administration, has two decades of government service under his belt. At Justice, he has been executive officer in the Civil Rights Division and assistant director of the budget staff. Previously, he worked at the Treasury Department as director of finance and at the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a budget officer.

The Justice Department will continue to leverage information technology investment with architecture and security initiatives to maintain a strong IT program and ensure that IT is aligned with mission needs.The FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System is a state-of-the-art criminal history database that will contain initially 35 million fingerprints collected by federal, state, local and tribal agencies. It will dramatically improve the fingerprint processing services that the FBI provides to 72,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Criminal fingerprint checks are now completed in two hours rather than 20 days.The Joint Automated Booking Station is a Justice initiative to develop a national automated booking system. JABS provides the means to electronically manage and process photographic, fingerprint and biographical data. It is intended to minimize the processing time for booking an offender, eliminate redundant data collection and facilitate information sharing.The DRUG-X project involves an automated system for data sharing and investigative coordination among the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration and other Justice components, including the Marshals Service. It has been designed for eventual expansion to law enforcement agencies in other federal departments, in particular the Customs Service.The new IT investment management process requires agencies to address such issues as capital planning, business process re-engineering, architecture, security, risk management, project management and contracting for every proposed IT investment prior to the budget process. The Immigration and Naturalization Service teleconferencing program allows Executive Office of Immigration Review judges, trial attorneys and detainees in separate locations to discuss case matters, observe detainees' attitudes and demeanor, as well as render decisions on deportation cases.''The FBI, INS and Office of Justice Programs (OJP) are making effective use of Internet technologies. The FBI's Law Enforcement Online initiative lets users communicate securely. OJP's Grant Management System is an enterprisewide, Internet-based grant information system administering and ultimately managing billions of dollars in Justice federal grants. The online GMS system includes business functionality for the grant solicitation, application and award.Plans are under way to implement a reporting and grant monitoring functionality. GMS functionality replaces over 100 separate administration applications'it is platform- and location-independent'thus enabling applicants to access the system from any PC connected to the Internet.

Who's In Charge

Stephen R. Colgate

Assistant Attorney General for
Administration and Chief Information Officer

Linda Burek

Deputy Assistant Attorney General for IRM and Justice Management Division CIO

George Bohlinger

Executive Associate Commissioner, Officer of Management Immigration and Naturalization Service

Mark Tanner

Special Assistant to the Deputy Director, FBI

Philip V. Camero

Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Information Systems, Drug Enforcement Administration

George Zarur

CIO, Marshals Service

Thomas R. Kane

Assistant Director, Information, Policy and Public Affairs Division

David Downs

Deputy Director of Operations, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys

Gary Silver

Director of Administration,
Office of Justice Programs

TOP CONTRACTORS

(in millions, fiscal 1997)

Wang Federal Systems	$76.4
Science Applications ''''International Corp.	$54.6
Unisys Corp.	$37.5
Electronic Data Systems Corp.	$25.7
Keane Federal Systems	$22.4
Litton PRC	$19.0
Information Spectrum Inc.	$17.3
Lockheed Martin Corp.	$16.8
Datatrac Corp.	$15.6
Computer Sciences Corp.	$11.5
TOTAL	$296.8

Sources for this GCN Snapshot

included the Justice Department and

Input of Vienna, Va.

Justice Department chief information officer Stephen R. Colgate, assistant attorney general for administration, has two decades of government service under his belt. At Justice, he has been executive officer in the Civil Rights Division and assistant director of the budget staff.
Previously, he worked at the Treasury Department as director of finance and at the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a budget officer.

Colgate has a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona and a master's from American University. He has received the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award and the Meritorious Executive and Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank awards.

Fiscal 1999 was marked by rollouts of far-reaching FBI identification systems. Colgate talked with GCN recently about the role information technology plays in Justice's law enforcement mission.

COLGATE:

Major programs

Wireless Management Office'The office works with the Justice Wireless Group and Wireless Communications Board to manage wireless communication systems. A recently approved regional framework plan will create the Justice Wireless Network to provide radios and support to field users and will ensure interoperability with federal, state and local public-safety organizations.

Public-Key Infrastructure'The department's PKI Working Group is developing secure electronic transactions and exchange of sensitive information through the use of cryptographic keys and certificates. Deployment and implementation of a strategic departmental PKI is scheduled for fiscal 2001.

Firebird'The Drug Enforcement Administration's office automation network combines electronic mail, uniform word processing and other business tools to let DEA automate the investigative reporting process, share case information and perform analysis and administrative activities.

National Crime Information Center 2000'This FBI system enhances suspect identification and search methods from an office or a vehicle equipped with a computer. NCIC 2000 lets officers check fingerprints against the fingerprints of wanted and missing people.

Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System'The FBI's IAFIS can process more than 85,000 10-fingerprint searches a day and works with the National Criminal Background Check System and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.

NEXT STORY: Crimefighters get another tool

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