Federal 100: Edward Johnson
Name: Edward Johnson
Title: Chief Financial Officer, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Agency: Department of Homeland Security
FEMA financial overhaul. Johnson led what his admirers called a herculean effort to continue overhauling FEMA's core financial system as part of his mission to modernize the agency's aging Integrated Financial Management Information System to bring it into the 21st century. He completed a major technological refresh of the 20-year-old Cobol-based system and bypassed expensive one-time fixes and replacements with two Web-based virtual machines that separate applications and databases. Thanks to his work, data used to provide financial assistance to individuals and communities affected by disasters is now more accessible and secure.