Tech transfer office opens, one in at DOE and one out at DHS

Energy unveils tech transfer office

The Energy Department launched a new Office of Technology Transitions on Feb. 11 to expand the commercial reach of its national laboratories and sponsored university research efforts.

DOE spends more than $10 billion on research and development each year, primarily at universities and federal laboratories, and officials have been seeking more opportunities to commercialize technology developed in those labs.

The new office will coordinate commercial development of research projects and be responsible for the statutorily created Energy Technology Commercialization Fund, a nearly $20 million reserve that will use R&D funding for applied energy programs to pursue commercialization activities.

DOE gets new chief data officer

David Dutton has joined the Energy Department as chief data officer. He will assist with and coordinate data and information management initiatives.

DOE is among the first agencies to appoint a CDO. Officials said the position reports to the department's chief technology officer.

Dutton brings substantial data management skills to DOE. He has led enterprisewide data management programs at major corporations such as NCR, General Motors, CNA Insurance, McDonald's, Capital One and Freddie Mac. He also served as the enterprise data management program manager as a contractor at the Transportation Security Administration and the Defense Commissary Agency.

Streufert leaving DHS

John Streufert, director of federal network resilience at the Department of Homeland Security, is stepping down after more than three years on the job. DHS declined to provide further details on his move.

Streufert has championed the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program at DHS and has marshaled the department's forces to support the Office of Management and Budget's effort to migrate federal agencies to CDM by 2017.

Under his direction, DHS began to give CDM physical form through contracts with 17 companies for hardware and software for continuous monitoring as a service.

Streufert will stay on as director of federal network resilience until a replacement can be found, after which he will become a senior adviser to DHS' National Protection and Programs Directorate, according to an article by Federal News Radio that cited a memo from Andy Ozment, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at DHS.