DSFederal Updates

Stay informed on DSFederal in our News/Media Center. Keep up with our latest press releases, published articles, events and awards.

Dec 9, 2019

DSFederal Redesigns ONC’s HealthIT.gov to Streamline Patient Care

For nearly a decade, DSFederal has provided the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) with leading-edge website and application development, and continues to do so with a growing team of highly experienced developers. Supporting ONC, DSFederal has led two major redesigns of HealthIT.gov since 2011, including migrations to Drupal 7 and then Drupal 8. ONC is the authoritative resource for increasing efficiency through the adoption of health information technology.

Nov 18, 2019

Two NIH Projects Awarded Office of the Director (OD) Awards

DSFederal team members from the Office of Extramural Research (OER) Scientific and Program Support Services and the National Institutes of Health Training Center (NIHTC) Support Services projects both received the prestigious Office of the Director (OD) Award for outstanding achievement in recent weeks. NIHTC Project Manager Keturah Dubar, Administration Support Specialist Keria Moorehead, and Technical Support Specialist Glenn Dempster received honors at an Award Ceremony on

Nov 1, 2019

DSFederal’s Sophia Parker inducted into Montgomery County Business Hall of Fame

On Tuesday, October 29, the eighth annual Montgomery County Business Hall of Fame (MCBHOF) was held at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG). Among the four inductees for the 2019 MCBHOF was our very own Sophia Parker, founder and CEO of DSFederal. The prestigious event celebrated individuals who have made a significant impact in the Montgomery County business community, and brought together business leaders to help raise proceeds for the scholarship fund at USG, Maryland’s r

Oct 25, 2019

DSFederal Scores Three New IT Contracts to Help Agencies Stay Current and Responsive to User Needs

Recently, DSFederal was given the green light to provide leading-edge technical assistance to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Defense Human Resources Activity (DHRA) Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Systems (ESGR). Through these projects, DSFederal will continue providing system development and website redesign and enhancement. Specifically, for the FDA, DSFederal will oversee project management and modern

Jun 26, 2019

Summer at DSFederal: Our 2019 intern class

At DSFederal, summer wouldn’t be summer without a team of bright, dedicated interns in the building; and we are delighted to put the spotlight on our 2019 interns: Faith Giguere, Hsien Shen, and Jing Li. We asked Faith, Hsien, and Jing to share a little bit about their interests and ambitions. Here’s what we learned. Faith Giguere is a new George Washington University graduate, with a bachelor's degree in computer science. As a Web Developer Intern, she is focused on the intr

Jun 21, 2019

Better reporting offers clearer insight for HHS business managers

Our NGITS team recently developed several new dashboards for our HHS customer to improve insight into execution and business operations, improving their ability to manage IT support efforts across all 25 HHS Operating Divisions. This required our team to migrate process-tracking data from existing Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to a more robust, standardized solution in Microsoft Project Online. These metrics have since become a key component of the Power BI dashboards that ha

May 30, 2019

Our experience in grants management and business process improvement

At the National Grants Management Association’s recent annual conference, DSFederal Project Manager Echo Wang participated in a joint presentation with HRSA Office of Federal Assistance Management (OFAM) staff. Because of her leadership role in the OFAM risk management study, Echo was invited to talk about the project's challenges and successes, key risk findings, recommendations, and considerations. In 2017, HRSA sought DSFederal’s assistance with an enterprise risk manageme

May 24, 2019

Innovative technical solutions for the National Agricultural Library

The USDA’s National Agricultural Library (NAL), a national library of the United States, is home to the world’s largest collection of agricultural science materials and information. Located in Beltsville, Maryland, the Library serves scientists and researchers by assisting with database searches, literature reviews, and requests for hard-to-find documents and records. NAL’s Information Systems Division (ISD) develops and maintains applications that enable public access to the

Feb 5, 2019

Celebrating the Year of the Pig, DSFederal-style

It's the Year of the Pig, and DSFederal celebrated with a traditional (and huge) Chinese lunch, served at Rockville HQ. With the help of Lead Data Analyst Echo Wang, NGITS QA Lead Vicki Wang, Accounting Specialist Jingjing Li, Data Scientist Siyi Huang, Contracts Manager Maggie Lin, Administrative Assistant Ekaterina Casa, HR Generalist Keria Moorehead, Senior Recruiter Leigh Kelley, and sister Sandy Chang, CEO Sophia Parker prepared and served a traditional Chinese feast, su

Dec 14, 2018

Himalayan Data Analysis: Tableau for Beginners

During a lunch and learn session this week, DSFederal team members learned that you can gather and visualize data on almost anything--including a mountain-climbing expedition! Sr. Solutions Architect Nigel Shaw writes that the Himalayan Database (a free online database that houses records of Himalayan expeditions dating back to 1905) served as the data source for the training, noting that "some of our experienced staff were also inspired and they built some beautiful dashboar

Dec 5, 2018

I build beauty

The Japanese mastered the art of achieving harmony with nature a long time ago. We are still working on building our own zen of achieving harmony with data in all of its shapes and forms. It has been an evolution led by pioneers in art and data. Giorgia Lupi inspires me every day to bring humanity to data. She reminds us that every brushstroke, every pixel represents a person, that what we do with data visualization matters. My own revolution has been learning to build beauty

Nov 21, 2018

Updated HSMED dashboards on Tableau Public

Building on their recent success building a Tableau-based decision support tool for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau's Healthy Start program (which was featured in a FedResults webinar), DSFederal's data team has created an enhanced Color Palette Selection Dashboard, now published on Tableau Public..The dashboards offer custom color palettes and new advanced visualizations --what Lead Solutions Architect Nigel Shaw describes as "a good mix of wow factor and improved conte

Nov 1, 2018

DSFederal PM serves children in need in Nepal

Dominic (left, rear) with aspiring cricketers Dominic Francis, our FDA Clarity PM, is an IT professional and a part-time humanitarian. Instead of a beach visit or sightseeing trip, Dominic is spending his vacation in Nepal, serving as a volunteer camp counselor at the BlinkNow orphanage in Surkhet. BlinkNow was founded by Maggie Doyne, who first visited Nepal at age 18 and was shocked at the poverty and harsh conditions in which so many Nepali children live. Established on a

Oct 29, 2018

The coolest people at the hottest conference: DSFederal at Tableau Conference 2018

Left to right: Thiagarajan Prakash, Echo Wang, Nigel Shaw, Jessica Chen, Sophia Wu. You can tell they're cool because of the sunglasses. DSFederal Lead Data Analyst Echo Wang jokingly refers to herself and DSFederal teammates as "data geeks," but we think that our data experts are cooler than rock stars, and not just because of their sunglasses. "Data-driven" has become a buzz phrase in Federal contracting, but DSFederal has been developing data-focused solutions to complex p

Oct 26, 2018

DSFederal Project Manager leads Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week drive supporting Bethesda Car

DSFederal's NIH Training Center Project Manager Keturah Dubar is leading a company-wide effort to collect personal care and clothing items for Bethesda Cares in recognition of national Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (November 10 - 18). With services focused on preventing, easing, and ending homelessness, Bethesda Cares offers a wide range of services and support for its clients, including food assistance, clothing and personal items, mental health counseling, prescrip

Oct 16, 2018

DSFederal partners with FedResults to present Tableau webinar

The DSFederal Innovation Council, led by Solution Architect Nigel Shaw, developed a Tableau-based decision support tool for service providers and government. The tool was envisioned as a dashboard prototype for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Healthy Start Program, using client-level data collected by the DSFederal-developed Healthy Start Monitoring and Evaluation Database (HSMED), but it has broad applications for other data collection and measurement projects. T

Sep 24, 2018

TargetHIV.gov publishes Building Futures Technical Assistance Toolkit

DSFederal was pleased to learn that the “Building Futures: Supporting Youth Living with HIV Technical Assistance Toolkit” that we developed in partnership with Mission Analytics, CAI, and Deborah J. Isenberg Consulting Services will be distributed at the 2018 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care and Treatment. The 508-compliant Toolkit, available for download at Target.HIV.gov, offers strategies and resources that providers can use to improve care and outreach efforts

Jul 2, 2018

DSFederal presents at June 29 Drupal4Gov event

DSFederal's Director of Web Development Nneka Hector and Art Director Alex Emmerman presented at the June 29 Drupal4Gov half-day event. In informal colloquium-style presentations, Alex and Nneka covered development practices, 508 compliance, security, and Drupal 8 migration for government. With extensive experience in Drupal development and graphic design for Federal customers and many appearances at industry conferences, Nneka and Alex are recognized experts in Drupal devel

Jun 29, 2018

DSFederal makes the Honor Roll with $1,500 "Class-Level" donation to MCPS GIVE BACKpacks c

The MCPS Educational Foundation supports the educational mission of Montgomery County Public Schools by raising money from private and corporate donors. The additional funds allow MCPS to improve existing programs, offer additional educational and enrichment opportunities, and provide supplies and equipment for children in need. GIVE BACKpacks, the Foundation's supply campaign, provides backpacks filled with supplies to students throughout the county. DSFederal was pleased to

May 30, 2018

Fighting the opioid crisis: New ideas, new approaches

Montgomery County is taking a novel approach to fighting the epidemic of opioid overdoses, by offering free, open-to-the-public training on use of naloxone, a drug that can safely reverse the effects of an overdose. According to a recent news release, three training sessions will be offered in June: Tuesday, June 5 1 to 3 p.m. Department of Health and Human Services 401 Hungerford Drive, 1st floor conference room Rockville Tuesday, June 12 10 a.m. to 12 noon Westfie

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