It’s time to modernize government AV facilities

The White House has made it clear that they intend to modernize the nation’s infrastructure and government information systems. The President has appointed a Federal Chief Information Officer and a Chief Technology Officer. Stimulus dollars have been earmarked for massive infrastructure overhauls to improve roadways and to extend broadband into rural areas.

Any time there is an administration change in Washington, similar activities occur. Priorities shift and resources shift with them. Right now these changes take on additional meaning and urgency because the country and the world continue to struggle to emerge from a deep and painful recession. Meanwhile, our warfighters continue to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq while keeping an eye on other trouble spots around the real and virtual worlds.

This is a time for wise decision making and careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Government civilian, military, and contract personnel are doing their best to help lead the country forward. Unfortunately, a large percentage of them are getting together in outdated facilities to make decisions for the future. Conference rooms and other AV facilities across the government are crying out for help. I think it is now time for AV technology managers to heed the call of progress and get their AV facilities up to today’s technology standards.

Government agencies need to modernize their facilities to better serve the American people. Upgrading conference rooms and other AV facilities will result in significant productivity improvements by eliminating the waste associated with doing things like trying to connect outdated VTCs, send PowerPoint slides to remote meeting participants, or asking talkers to move closer to a microphone. Every day countless hours are squandered due to ineffective AV systems in government agencies. Fixing these problems will make it easier for government workers to communicate and make decisions. There will also be significant side benefits, including significant energy savings from more efficient equipment and better resource management.

If government agencies are expected to modernize their services, green their offices, and lead new technology initiatives, the decision makers in those agencies should gather in modern AV facilities or participate through effective virtual means to make their decisions. It seems ironic that government leaders should have to meet in a barebones conference room huddled around a speakerphone with inadequate coverage writing their ideas on a dry erase board or even a chalk board. That is, if there is even a phone and board in the room. Others are faced with a pile of remotes, outdated TVs or projectors, and problematic AV resources that are so far beyond their intended lifecycle that no one can figure out where they came from in the first place. We quietly replaced the 4x3 aspect ratio CRT monitors on our desks with 16x9 LCD panels, but many presentations prepared on these displays are crushed back into the old 4x3 when they are projected through old conference room AV systems.

I’ve often wondered why we can move so quickly in some areas (flat panels in the office, BlackBerrys on the belt or in the purse), but lag so far behind in others (modernizing our conference facilities, enabling simple, effective collaboration). My best guess is that it seems fairly simple to buy a single device like a BlackBerry or a monitor and that these commodity items are easy to install and support. Oh, and the per-unit cost is extremely low. On the flip side, conference room AV systems have been complex, confusing, and expensive.

That may have been the case in the past, but the trend is changing. AV equipment is reaching commodity pricing. Large flat panel displays and high-lumen projectors cost a fraction of what they did a few years ago. Control systems and cabling have become simpler and more flexible. Videoconferencing has become more reliable and less bandwidth intensive. It is now time for AV technology managers to do our part to stimulate progress by providing the systems and tools to facilitate modern decision making. We can do this by coming up with plans to retrofit our conference rooms and other facilities with simple, cost-effective, standardized, energy-efficient AV systems.

Start with the easy stuff. Most facilities don’t need high-end systems. Work with your consultants and integrators to come up with a simple retrofit plan that will meet your budget requirements. Even if you don’t have a budget, you should still prepare a plan and present it to leadership for consideration. Most of the projects I have completed started without a budget. Armed with a good plan and a cost/benefit analysis, you have a strong chance to get leadership buy-in and funding.

Frankly it is embarrassing that the technology in many of our nation’s collaborative spaces is drastically inferior to what we have in our living rooms at home. It is even worse that a tiny device in our pockets has more power and functionality than all of the combined technology in many of our conference facilities. It is certainly time to put some planning and work into our longneglected AV facilities.

Modernization starts inside each of our organizations and extends out across all of the areas that they are tasked with supporting. Improving meeting and collaboration space is essential to better decision making and planning for the future. Effective use of AV technology will improve productivity, reduce waste, and demonstrate leadership in a time when government leadership is critical to our nation’s continued success.

Gary L. Hall, CTS-D, CTS-I, is a program management execution officer at the National- Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) in Bethesda, MD. He is also an adjunct instructor at the InfoComm Academy and can be reached at garylhall@gmail.com. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and are in no way officially endorsed by NGA, and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States.