Andrew Gravatt
Chair, Systems and Technology Department
iCollege, National Defense University
Out of this World: Virtual Worlds in Government

Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Building 3 Auditorium - 11:00 AM
(Coffee and cookies at 10:30 AM)

What is a virtual world? Even people who are familiar with this technology through Second Life or World of Warcraft sometimes question whether there are useful applications for the Federal Government. Recognizing the possibilities, the iCollege of the National Defense University began the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds in 2007 which now has over 3000 members. This community is taking this question seriously and is working to promote the use of virtual worlds across the government through outreach, education, and finding solutions to security issues that have prevented the use of the technology. This talk will define what a virtual world is, discuss how they are being used today across the Federal Government to increase productivity and public access, and invite participants to explore these new worlds.

Professor Gravatt earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park and an M.S. in Computer Science from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. He began his career as a contractor at Goddard Space Flight Center providing support for NASCOM's Message Switching System. He then spent the next 20 years supporting GSFC by providing systems engineering support for ground system development and advancing to a position of management over a team of 65 software developers who provided development and sustaining engineering for over 200 applications. He spent two years during the "dotcom boom" as a consultant managing and developing commercial web sites and applications. He is currently the Chair of the Systems and Technology Department at the iCollege of the National Defense University where he is responsible for their Chief Technology Officer, Enterprise Architecture, and IT Program Management Offerings.

IS&T Colloquium Committee Host: Emma Antunes

Sign language interpreter upon request: 301-286-7040
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