GSA to open optimization office

In the new office, officials plan to combine programs and activities, including handling data-at-rest and antivirus software offerings through the SmartBuy program.The office also will include an Identity Management Division that combines GSA’s Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 program management office and e-authentication division, said John Johnson, assistant commissioner of ITS at GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.Johnson said he expects to have the infrastructure optimization office in place by August, and he has picked Fred Schobert, chief technology officer at ITS, to lead it.The reorganization is an attempt to find natural places to meld various initiatives and operations — such as e-authentication and HSPD-12, which require federal employees and certain contractors to have identification cards — and provide comprehensive solutions for its customers, Johnson said.Reshaping the office will allow GSA to offer green products to agencies, Johnson said at Input’s State and Local Marketview conference.”We do have an opportunity to really shape” the government’s green initiatives by considering how GSA supplies its customers with products and services, Johnson said.The fee-for-service agency has always looked for ways to be more efficient and offer products and services geared toward saving energy, such as fleets of fuel-efficient vehicles and energy-saving information technology products, Johnson said.With minimal appropriations from Congress, GSA has to adapt to the market and offer attractive products.

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