Watchdogs honored at IG awards

Members of the watchdog community were honored for their tech oversight achievements at the 19th annual Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency awards on Oct. 20.

CIGIE is an independent body within the executive branch comprising Inspector General Act watchdogs that develops standards and guidance for IGs government-wide. Its annual awards ceremony seeks to honor the IG workforce for achievements in uncovering fraud and inefficiencies in government programs.

The organization designates "special category awards" for teams and individuals warranting particular distinction. This year, several awards were given to members of the IG workforce for audits and investigations of federal IT projects.

The Transportation Security Administration’s Covert Testing Team within the Department of Homeland Security Office of Audits received the Alexander Hamilton Award for testing airport security passenger screening technologies and procedures.

The 97-person, interagency Federal Audit Executive Council DATA Act Working Group was awarded the Barry R. Snyder Joint Award for its leading oversight role in the implementation of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act.

Individually, Khalid Hasan, senior Office of Inspector General manager of the Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, received the CIGIE Award for Individual Accomplishment for his collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget, DHS and across the IG community to update the Federal Information Security Modernization Act's IG reporting metrics.

And Frank Chase, the assistant inspector general for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, was awarded the June Gibbs Brown Career Achievement Award in honor of his 38 years of IG operations throughout the intelligence community.