Alumna Is Information Technology Guru
By Tim Terman
In September
of 2003, WVU alumna Karen Evans was appointed by President George
W. Bush as the U.S. government's administrator for information
technology. With a chemistry degree from the Eberly College of
Arts and Sciences, an MBA from the College of Business and Economics,
and a $60 billion federal budget, this mother of two is in the
middle of planning, managing, and measuring results of the government's
technology programs.
The keynote speaker at WVU's Technology Symposium in March, Evans is responsible for the Bush administration's electronic government initiatives—everything from the USAJobs Web site that lists 18,500 federal jobs to the FirstGov.Gov site. The latter is a portal to just about every federal service there is—the online equivalent of Pueblo, Colorado, where the traditional paper-based publications originate. Her department is also responsible for numerous government initiatives that serve citizens, including the well-recognized IRS Free File program.
She told symposium participants that the president's initiative to use e-government principles to transform the federal workplace, manage information technology, and drive greater service to the citizens was making great progress and providing new opportunities. Evans highlighted the role of the president's process to grade agencies on their progress as a means of institutionalizing the results of his government management agenda. Evans said IT jobs in the government are "fun."
"When you go out into the world, look at quality-of-life issues and your core values when deciding on a career," she advised. "It's important to believe in what an organization does before you join one. I'm doing what I do because I think it's a lot of fun and provides a great opportunity to contribute to the world in which my children are growing up."
Evans recalled when she was a manager at the Department of Agriculture, trying to convince her superiors that investing in a promising new technology was a wise decision. It was the Windows operating system. Today it's so ubiquitous that it's under legal challenge as a monopoly. But in the early 1990s, Evans had a tough job describing how the software would benefit the government, thereby teaching her an important skill in encouraging superiors in embracing new technologies. "Get good at using analogies to convince the CEO why he or she needs to allocate more funds for technology," she said.
Her official title is administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology (IT) at the Office of Management and Budget—more generally known as "technology czar," a handle she's uncomfortable with, according to an article published last year when she was first named to the post. "I do not consider myself an IT czar," Evans said in a speech. "I'm not a tyrant . . . I'm not a ruler. I'm Karen Evans, mother of two, wife of Randy. I live in West Virginia. . . . I do IT." Evans told the students that there are lots of IT jobs available in the government; they are challenging, and provide a great opportunity to try out new ideas.
"When you fail in this business," she cautioned students, "everyone knows it." Although there's pressure—sometimes, a failed e-mail system can ruin a career—government information technology jobs offer a fertile environment to grow as a technologist. "You can take risks . . . so you get to implement new technologies, and there's a lot of exposure to project management in government."
At the Department of Energy, Evans was responsible for the design, implementation, and operation of information technology programs and initiatives, and she was also the vice-chairman of the Federal Chief Information Officers Council. Elected to this post in December 2002, she coordinated the group's efforts in developing federal IT programs and improving agency information resource practices.
Before joining the DOE, Evans was director of the Information Resources Management Division, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, where she oversaw technology programs related to Safe Schools, the Safe Start Program, Community Prosecution, Native American Tribal Courts, and other programs of high local, state, and national interest. Key accomplishments included the implementation of an online grants management system to process grants from discretionary, formula, and large block grants programs, and streamlining capabilities to ensure for the expeditious processing of claims benefits to families of public safety officers after the September 11 attacks.