Following the announcement that ShorePoint had brought on longtime federal leader Kevin Cox as its Executive Director of cyber operations modernization, we caught up with Kevin to learn more. As recent Deputy CIO for operations and infrastructure at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a former program manager for the federal CDM program within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Deputy CIO and Acting CISO at the Department of Justice, Kevin brings a wealth of perspective and experience and will be looking to engage with industry to continue to support government as it moves forward.
Shared Services, Zero Trust…The Way Forward
As we’ve all seen, a lot of organizational and technological change is happening now at the federal agency level. Government contractors are navigating that change along with their agency customers and are working to adapt to the new reality, as well as staying open to potential new opportunities in the tech and cyber spaces. It appears there will be a renewed focus on shared services in the federal space, along with continued focus on shifting to Cloud-based ‘as a service’ and taking full advantage of AI capabilities that the Cloud offers.
With all that change, one thing hasn’t changed: the nation-state and criminal threat to our country’s networks and data. As all the other change occurs, the federal government must keep its focus on combating the threat and staying in front of the evolution of the tactics, techniques, and procedures the threat actors are using. Zero trust and continuous Cyber posture monitoring will continue to be important and government contractors will need to be ready to support and work with their customers in adapting to a post-quantum world.
Sharpening Customer Focus
I was drawn to ShorePoint by their commitment to the customer and the customer mission. That is my top priority. I also appreciate the company’s organizational culture and their focus on the employee. ShorePoint’s CEO, Matt Brown, and his leadership team are top-notch and are focused on the right things.
My aim is that my experience supporting multiple government agencies from the level of a GS-4 to a senior executive will continue to sharpen the customer focus at ShorePoint. For example, as the former program manager for the CDM Program, I had the opportunity to work with the CDM team and its contract partners to help strengthen the cybersecurity posture and federal-wide cyber visibility of the agencies in the Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB). My hope is that as a member of the ShorePoint team, I can have a similar impact strengthening the proactive cyber defenses of the FCEB.
I look forward to helping ShorePoint’s current and future customers successfully navigate during a time of rapid organizational and technological change.
Data Analytics and the Ethical Use of AI
Before I joined the company, ShorePoint was doing top quality work in support of their customers. They have a partnership mentality by working closely with their customers to advance their cybersecurity missions cost effectively and efficiently. My aim is to bolster that approach and help the company continue to do right by their customers in protecting the sensitive data of the American people.
I also want to contribute to positioning the company to incorporate data analytics and the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) into the organization and in support of their customers. Properly implemented, data analytics and AI are transformational in helping organizations achieve their missions and support their stakeholders.
Strong Partnerships
The IT and Cyber landscapes are complex and in the case of medium to large programs and projects, no single company typically has enough people with all the skillsets necessary to be successful. Partnerships are crucial.
I’m familiar with a lot of the IT and Cyber government contractors supporting the federal government today, but I’m far from knowing all of them. I am interested in expanding my awareness of the small to large companies in this space to help us identify where the potential of strong partnerships exists. In particular, I am interested in learning more about all the many different companies offering services in areas such as data analytics, AI security, Cloud security posture, identity management, and post-quantum.
The federal government needs good government contractors, from small to large, to advance its many different information technology (IT) and Cyber missions in cost effective and efficient ways. The opportunities for building strong partnerships for the American people are not going away.
