CIO says DOT's e-mail pilot is a success so far
George R. Molaski has met one of the two goals he set for himself when he became the Transportation Department's chief information officer six months ago.
By Frank TiboniGCN StaffGeorge R. Molaski has met one of the two goals he set for himself when he became the Transportation Department's chief information officer six months ago.Molaski rolled out a pilot program this fall for a common e-mail system. The pilot is running in his office, which is within Transportation's Office of the Secretary.With the help of a team of contractors including OAO Corp. of Greenbelt, Md., the CIO staff began using Microsoft Exchange. Ultimately, the goal is to promulgate an e-mail program departmentwide.'This is in line with the secretary's One DOT Plan to implement better communications department-wide,' Molaski said this month at the GCN Forum luncheon in Washington.Better communication across modes of transportation'air, roads, railways and seas'is one of Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater's 17 flagship initiatives in the One DOT Plan.Sharing a common e-mail system will help reach that goal, Molaski said.'The implementation of Ex-change in the CIO's office has been successful,' Molaski said. 'Everyone is very satisfied. We're going to continue to test and evaluate the new e-mail system, then roll it out to some other offices in OST.'The other offices include the budget and public affairs divisions, as well as Slater's office, which does not have secure e-mail, Molaski said.Transportation uses four e-mail programs in its 14 agencies. OST was using Lotus c:Mail, he said.DOT chose Exchange over other e-mail programs because of its security features, Molaski said.Molaski began the e-mail system pilot about two months ago. To date, Transportation has spent about $100,000 on the pilot.Molaski said he would present the findings from the pilot to Transportation's Senior Management Council for review.Molaski's second goal is to create an IT investment council to steer major system buys and projects in the department.He said he expects to have the council in place by the end of the year. It will include Federal Aviation Administration CIO Daniel J. Mehan; the Coast Guard's CIO, Rear Adm. George Naccara; the budget office chief; and himself.
Team effort
Starting out
DOT's George Molaski says using a common e-mail system will help communication.
Team effort
Starting out
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