by Senior Master Sgt. David Byron
Air Force Public Affairs Agency
11/2/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force's chief information officer was recognized with a Government Computer News award during the 24th annual GCN Awards Gala in McLean, Va., Oct. 19.
Lt. Gen. William Lord, the Air Force chief of warfighting integration and chief information officer, received the Defense Information Technology Executive of the Year Award. The GCN awards recognize teamwork, public service and the important contributions of the younger generation in improving the quality of systems and services in the public service sector.
Lord heads a Pentagon office that leads five directorates and a field operating agency in integrating Air Force warfighting and mission support capabilities by networking space, air and terrestrial assets. He also shapes doctrine, strategy and policy for all Air Force communications and information activities.
"We stand on the shoulders of lots of people," Lord said, acknowledging the role of his team, the other services and industry in helping him achieve success. "This is really a team sport."
During the awards ceremony, Lord said he didn't want to admit, in the presence of mathematicians who were also receiving awards, that math was a weak point for him as an Air Force Academy cadet.
"To be able to have a 'C' student from the Air Force Academy, who graduated from a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania, get this kind of recognition ... (it's) because there are a lot of smart people who got me here," he said. "I work with them every day."
One of the areas Lord said he and his team have focused on during the two years he has held his current position is increasing the rate of innovation across the organization. He also has a goal of reducing the number of information technology rules and regulations, which he said he believes serves as a principal barrier to innovation, by 75 percent. Innovation can lead to greater efficiencies.
"The efficiencies we're going after now have to be well-thought out because of the long-term implications of what we do," Lord said. "What I'm doing with the Air Force network may have an effect as we attempt to join the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps networks together."
