I am excited to share the news of Cisco’s new partnership with Miriam’s Kitchen in Washington, D.C., near my home. Miriam’s Kitchen is committed to ending homelessness in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area by providing homeless persons with access to meals, counseling, clean clothes, medical care, permanent housing, and by ensuring they have the necessary support to remain in housing. Miriam’s Kitchen served 71,948 meals in 2012 and expects to serve 73,500 meals in 2013.

This is a wonderful organization doing good work for my local community. To help them feed and clothe even more homeless persons, Cisco has provided Miriam’s Kitchen with a $25,000 grant. The grant will help provide support for Miriam’s Kitchen’s meals and case management programs, which provide food and a range of services to thousands of people every day. Read More »

Tags: corporate social responsibility, homeless, homelessness, social responsibility, VA, veterans, Veterans Affairs

There are so many things that make me proud of Cisco and its employees, but one of the most gratifying is the work we do to support our nation’s heroes – our warfighters and veterans. This week, nearly 400 of those heroes will take to the slopes, ride snowmobiles, try scuba diving, and enjoy rock climbing and other activities at the 27^th annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colo. from March 31-April 5.

Snowmobiling at the 2012 Winter Sports Clinic

The Clinic provides adaptive winter sports instruction for U.S. military veterans and active duty service men and women with disabilities. It is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and supported by other sponsors, including Cisco.

I look forward to this event every year. It is truly inspiring to share these experiences with such great men and women, hear their stories and see them take on new challenges. Personally, my favorite activity is snowmobiling, although I enjoy skiing as well. But by far the best thing about the Clinic is the opportunity to give something back to, and show our appreciation for, our nation’s finest. Read More »

Tags: DAV, disabled veterans, federal, VA, veterans, Veterans Affairs

With Cisco’s participation in World IPv6 Launch less than a week away,  IPv6 is definitely top of mind.  Those of us who work in the federal space are also focused on the IPv6 transition deadline that is coming up on September 30^th, 2012.  The  OMB Mandate issued in September of 2010 by Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra states that the federal government must “Upgrade public/external facing servers and services (e.g. web, email, DNS, ISP services, etc) to  operationally use native IPv6 by the end of FY 2012”.  According to a Network World article written by Carolyn Duff Marsan, a whopping  99% of Federal Agencies have not yet met the conditions of the mandate.

Why has it been such a challenge for the government to meet this IPv6 transition deadline?  And what needs to be done to help make it happen?

One of the problems is that there has been a lack of  IPv6 support  by government contractors, (including carriers ),   content delivery networks and  network equipment suppliers.  Network equipment must be  “IPv6 certified” to enable government customers to meet the deadline.

Cisco has been leading the way with IPv6 certifications, with a majority of products supporting IPv6 for well over a decade.  Our USGv6 product list is testament to the fact that we are committed to helping our government customers succeed, but it will take more than just IPv6 certified network equipment to help the government successfully make the transition.

The Veteran’s Administration is among the 1% of federal agencies that have successfully transitioned to IPv6.  How did they do it?   By linking the IPv6 transition as an imperative to the VA mission and future IT success.  Their methods and best practiced should be used as a reference for how to accomplish this task.

For those of you in the DC area, if you want to get a update on the outcome of World IPv6 Launch, and more information on how the Veterans Administration successfully transitioned to IPv6, please consider attending  the Digital Government Institute’s  Government IPv6 Day, where all these topics will be covered.

Tags: amy blanchard, CIO, Cisco, Department of Veterans Affairs, IPv6, OMB, pollock, VA, world ipv6

To ensure its facilities stay on the cutting edge of healthcare and technology, the federal government plans to purchase 100,000 tablet computing devices for its Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, according to Nextgov.

It’s a move that makes a lot of sense, as Fierce Mobile Healthcare notes in a recent story. Tablets represent the most current technology available, and their presence in a hospital lures medical students to fight for positions, as they perceive the technology as top-of-the-line, according to the article. The devices save hospitals money by preserving funds that would otherwise go towards more expensive PCs or laptops, and they save physicians time by streamlining documentation and administrative procedures, the article said.

There’s one more crucial thing a tablet brings with it to the hospital: telepresence. With telepresence at their fingertips, doctors can remotely follow-up on their patients, yet still see their patients “in person.” They can provide care to chronically ill patients living far from the hospital, review x-rays clearly and precisely, and access continuing education resources.

We’ve had the fortune of seeing the tablet in action at a healthcare facility. Palomar Pomerado Health in Southern California uses Cisco’s Cius tablet to enable physicians to access full patient histories anytime, anywhere. This access speeds the reporting of test results and the delivery of prescriptions and medications. Doctors also use the Cius to support Cisco TelePresence.

While there are security and other mobile device management issues to consider, both Apple- and Android- based applications are beginning to take these barriers into account and fine-tune security on their devices, according to Nextgov. The Cius, for example, built from the ground up with security in mind, has security functions in place at all levels, from the hardware to the network access and from enterprise access to mobile security.

With anytime access to telepresence, patient records, administrative tools, and more, the VA stands to greatly enhance its patient care as it evolves its technology to the tablet. Knowing confidential information remains secure with tablet technology, could your agency or office benefit from having telepresence and expanded network access on the go?

Tags: Cius, healthcare, hospitals, Tablets, TelePresence, VA, Veterans Affairs