Federal 100: Martin Beckman
Name: Martin Beckman
Title: Director of IT Operations
Agency: Smithsonian Institution
The panda-cam man. Viewers streaming footage of the National Zoo's panda cub Bao Bao might not know it, but they have Beckman to thank for the quality and reliability of that video feed. His modernization plan transformed the Smithsonian's IT infrastructure, increased bandwidth and reduced congestion, making it possible for the Smithsonian museums to handle more than 100 million visitors to their websites. The improvements also accelerated the digitization of museum collections and helped lower costs by $1 million a year. Beckman's work is crucial to transforming the Smithsonian into a digitally connected institution that reaches virtual visitors worldwide.