Mary Davie, assistant commissioner for the Federal Acquisition Service's Office of Integrated Technology Services (ITS), and Michael DeChiara, executive director of AT&T's Advanced Enterprise Solutions organization, will discuss the General Services Administration's (GSA) new telepresence network at the NAB Show's Telepresence Conference on April 12.
Their presentation, "A Case Study: Telepresence in Government - Behind the GSA Telepresence Rollout," will focus on GSA's build out of a 15-site telepresence network including 11 regional headquarters and four GSA locations in the Washington, D.C., area.
Telepresence relies on technologies including HDTV, audio and interactive services to make people feel or appear as if they are all present in the same location even though they may be in different locations across the country. Employed mainly as a collaboration tool, telepresence is used by companies and organizations to help create an "in-person" meeting experience over a converged network that is based on an immersive, visual communications platform.
Davie will highlight how the GSA telepresence network will enable government agencies to save money and communicate and collaborate while reducing travel when appropriate. Davie also will examine the role of telepresence in facilitating regional meetings, crisis management, access to subject matter experts and distance learning.
As the ITS assistant commissioner, Davie is responsible for the largest fee-for-service IT procurement and services operation in the U.S. government.
DeChiara's presentation will focus on AT&T's role in designing the GSA telepresence solution, implementing the initiative nationwide and providing ongoing support and maintenance.
The NAB Show's Telepresence Conference will explore products, solutions and how next-generation visual communications platforms can impact business.
