Federal 100: James (Jim) Walker
Name: James (Jim) Walker
Title: Shared Services Portfolio Manager, NASA Shared Services Center
Agency: NASA
Space-age shared services. Walker, who has since retired from government and now works with Deloitte, introduced process robotics to NASA to help drive down the cost of transactional work, increase capacity and enhance accuracy. He submitted a proposal to automate a cumbersome funds disbursement process as part of the annual NASA Innovation Kick Start Competition -- going up against far sexier space-oriented innovations. That labor-intensive disbursement process requires 150-plus manual keystrokes in multiple applications across all NASA centers. Walker secured funding for his idea, proved its value on a pilot basis and now plans to begin offering "robotics as a service" to all NASA centers this year.