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About Richard A. Spires
Career advice for those in the technology field, and real-world practical approaches to digitally transforming an organization.
Fed Gov Today | July 27, 2023
The Internal Revenue Service will award a procurement worth up to $1.7 billion to modernize its Integrated Enterprise Portals platform. The agency says that platform “served over 11.4 billion page views to 660 million site visitors globally.” Richard Spires, principal at Richard A. Spires Consulting and former Chief Information Officer at the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, tells you how the IRS can maximize the money it will spend on its modernization.
 
FedScoop Radio | June 14, 2022
On today’s episode of The Daily Scoop Podcast, the National Initiative on Cybersecurity Education has a list of 52 different defined cybersecurity roles. Richard Spires, principal at Richard A. Spires Consulting and former chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security, discusses how this organized approach can help address the federal cybersecurity skills shortage.
 
Federal News Network | January 25, 2022
Richard Spires, the former IRS and DHS CIO, may have come closer to why EIS, and really all telecommunications transitions over the last 30 years, struggle. “I think many agencies struggle because of the workforce issues that we face within federal IT. Many of the OCIO organizations do not have all of the talent that they need to effectively manage their IT, and that is one of the key issues that we face in federal IT. And it manifests itself in many ways and one of those is in this example [of EIS transition],” he said. “It is a significant undertaking to migrate from one major networking contract to another. It takes a lot of work behind the scenes within these agencies to make that happen and I think many agencies struggle with that, while they’re also dealing with the day-to-day operations and trying to modernize some applications and all the cybersecurity issues. I think workforce issues are all really behind a lot of where we see struggles with these. And that’s concerning.”
 
FedScoop Radio | March 24, 2022
State Department has more than $55 million in new investments in information technology thanks to COVID relief funding. Former Chief Information Officer at U.S. Department of Homeland Security Richard Spires discusses how important IT is becoming in mission delivery for government agencies. Listen here.
 
FedScoop Radio | January 31, 2022
Chief information officers across government will get new measures on the next edition of the FITARA Scorecard. Richard Spires, principal at Richard A. Spires Consulting and former CIO at the Department of Homeland Security, explains what the new measures for IT modernization in government should be.
 
MeriTalk | January 20, 2022
Lawmakers Eye FITARA Scorecard Changes on Cyber, CX, Modernization. Former Department of Homeland Security CIO Richard Spires, who now runs his own consulting firm, suggested that the subcommittee consider scorecard changes including adding an IT planning category. “Meaningful IT modernization starts with good planning, hence this category should reflect the maturity and focus on IT modernization” within agencies planning and enterprise architecture functions, he said. He also seconded the calls for improved metrics for the cybersecurity category, and mapping elements of the Biden administration cybersecurity executive order to that.
 
FedScoop | January 20, 2022
Dunkin: DOE’s cybersecurity posture ‘stronger’ than D grade reflects. The Department of Energy’s D grade for cybersecurity on the FITARA 13.0 scorecard doesn’t accurately reflect its security posture, according to Chief Information Officer Ann Dunkin. “The good news is that the recent executive order on cybersecurity, issued in May of 2021, can serve as a blueprint for what federal agencies should be doing to enhance their cybersecurity position,” said Richard Spires, former CIO at the Department of Homeland Security.
 
Federal News Network | January 20, 2022
FITARA 13 scorecard brings truce to data center consolidation debate. Former CIOs like Richard Spires and Suzette Kent echoed Dunkin’s and the subcommittee’s concerns about the cyber metrics. Spires, who was the CIO at DHS and the IRS, recommended focusing on areas like real time monitoring through the use of automated tools as well as taking into account non-public or classified data to help better understand the risks and threats agencies face.
 
Government Matters | October 14, 2021
Draft bill increases cyber incident reporting requirements for federal agencies. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has a draft bill to overhaul the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), which defines cybersecurity requirements for civilian agencies. The committee voted unanimously to advance the bill to the full Senate. Watch the full interview.
 
Technado, Ep. 223 | Sep 30, 2021
What happens when you have experience as CIO of the IRS and the DHS? You write a book helping others to accomplish their IT career goals like this week’s guest, Richard Spires. He shared some insights from his career and discussed his tips for advancing your IT career.
 
FCW (Federal Computer Week) | Aug 23, 2021
Want to lead in IT? Find a subject to master.
 
FedHeads Season 4 Episode 168 | Sep 10, 2021
Richard Spires converted wisdom gained from a career in tech that spanned both public and private sector organizations into a book every ambitious tech exec should read: “Success in the Technology Field: A Guide for Advancing Your Career.” Join the FedHeads this week for a taste of what you’ll learn.
