Jane Edwards
Executive Mosaic is honored to present Jill Singer, vice president of federal solutions at AT&T, as a 2024 Wash100 Award winner for advancing the adoption of 5G capabilities and promoting network modernization efforts in support of government missions.
Vote for Singer as your favorite GovCon leader as part of the 2024 Wash100 popular vote competition! Voting closes on April 30, so visit Wash100.com to cast your ten votes today.
This year marks Singer’s seventh Wash100 win, recognizing her efforts in accelerating tech modernization to meet national security objectives.
“I’m deeply honored to represent AT&T and be chosen for the 2024 Wash100 as someone who demonstrates leadership, innovation and vision in the government contracting sector. Congratulations to my fellow Wash100 honorees and I offer my thanks to them for their tireless commitment to serving democracy and the needs of the American people,” Singer said of the recognition.
Commenting on Singer, Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award, said, “Formerly CIO at NRO and a previously a six-time Wash100 winner, Jill is at the operational forefront of 5G, edge and network advancements, but she also possesses a deep knowledge of intelligence, defense and national security missions that well positions her to understand the needs of AT&T’s customers and deliver next-generation network capabilities to them.”
“The convergence of the Internet of Things and edge compute is unlocking new real-time analytics capabilities for the U.S. military, and Jill is leading the charge at AT&T to put the best technologies in the hands of our warfighters. Her vision for advanced networks across government earns her 7th award and a spot on this year’s Wash100 list,” added Garrettson.
In her Executive Spotlight interview, Singer shared her insights on 5G technology and its role in supporting the U.S. government.
“I think we’re going to see agencies develop and acquire a variety of new and innovative use cases powered by 5G — things that we haven’t even thought of yet — that help them meet their mission needs while integrating and exploiting the features of 5G, like scalability, flexibility, speeds and lower latency,” Singer noted.
“5G on its own is very powerful, but it’s even more powerful when combined with network edge compute, which would be for a metro area, plus multi-access edge compute, which is more premise-based access. For 5G, the horizon is now, as it can enable vast compute capabilities closer to connected devices and systems to empower new experiences,” she added.
In the interview, the public sector VP highlighted how 5G could further support internet of things devices and provide connectivity at the tactical edge.
One of the trends Singer discussed in the interview is that agencies and the military are leveraging the speed of commercial innovation.
“We see the government trying to lean forward into 5G, artificial intelligence and augmented and virtual reality as agencies explore commercial innovations to understand how these innovations improve mission delivery and the IT foundation,” she explained.
Singer also cited the top national security threats facing the country and those are cybersecurity threats, authenticity and the pace of technology adoption.
When it comes to tech adoption, she said that “new technologies should be approached with a proper level of suspicion so that you are testing them and trying them in a safe space and in a safe way” and that lawmakers and policymakers should be given the “time to understand the correct position, so they don’t just adopt a position we’ll have to change tomorrow.”
Singer told The Cipher Brief in an interview that the Intelligence Community should advance network modernization to address the rising cybersecurity risks and near-peer threats and effectively carry out their missions.
She noted that IC agencies should consider implementing zero trust to ensure that individuals accessing the network are fully screened and approved.
“The design principles should have cybersecurity in mind upfront— whether in support of your applications, your network, or other features of your infrastructure. Cybersecurity should not be something bolted on at the end,” added Singer.
The AT&T executive suggested ways on how IC agencies can improve their procurement of modernized platforms.
“They can aim for more agile-style acquisitions, as opposed to the usual multi-year, winner-takes-all approach. Smaller, more specific acquisitions could be useful as a way to introduce new technology faster,” she noted.
Singer talked about the challenges facing IC agencies when it comes to network modernization and the skills IT personnel should have as they execute their modernization efforts.
For those who are pursuing executive-level positions and professional growth in GovCon, she called on professionals to be “innovative, proven and patient” and build up their online professional networking.
“Whether you’re in technology or something else, always keep learning. There is constantly something new out there that we should all know and understand, whether it is about culture, whether it is about technology, whether it is about business,” Singer added.
Singer has more than 30 years of government and industry experience. Prior to AT&T, she was a partner at Deep Water Point. Her industry career included leadership positions at IBM, GE Aerospace and Science Applications International Corp.
Her government service included time as chief information officer at the National Reconnaissance Office, deputy CIO at the CIA and director of the Diplomatic Telecommunications Service Program Office at the State Department.
Executive Mosaic congratulates AT&T and Jill Singer on her 2024 Wash100 Award.
Don’t forget to show your support for her at Wash100.com. Voting closes April 30.
