Walter Bigelow
Division Chief
IT Services Management Division
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
U.S. Department of Justice
Walter Bigelow manages agency wide large-scale information technology projects, specifically all IT Operations for the bureau to include Data Centers, Networks, Desktops/Laptops, Printers, Phones, Cell Phones, Tactical Radios, Help Desk, End User Services and outsourcing contracts.
Walter works conjunction with, and in full support of, a comprehensive bureau-wide IT reorganization effort to standardize SDLC, CMMI and ITIL processes with the end goal of sustaining a flexible, secure and current IT infrastructure.
He serves as an authoritative expert and consultant for assessing IT, developing policies, standards and guidelines related to the bureau’s architecture and technology programs.
Among his various achievements, Walter completed a 100% technology refresh of over 7000 end users in less than 6 months, on time and under budget and achieved a 98% positive customer satisfaction rating for the refresh effort.
He also led a joint effort for a new $500M primary IT support contract for ATF and US Marshals Service from inception to development of all documents and strategies, thru contract award and execution.
Walter hold as Masters in Information technology Management from The Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelors in Marketing from Penn State University.
ATARC Industry Advisory Board
ATARC Staff
Tom Suder
ATARC Founder/President
Bill Suder
ATARC Vice President
Emily Bonnette
ATARC Account Manager
Lana Dargan
ATARC Marketing & Events Coordinator
Travis Omps
ATARC Account Manager
Kiersten Patton
ATARC Working Group Coordinator
ATARC History
The Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC) and The Government Information Technology Executive Council (GITEC) announced their merger on May 31, 2018.
The merger brought together two non-profits with similar goals that provide professional development and collaborative forums for Federal government, academia and industry to identify, discuss and resolve emerging technology challenges.
GITEC Board Members who voted to merge with ATARC were: Michelle Barr, HUD; Walter Bigelow, ATF; Adriane Burton, HSRC; Rolando Estrada, DHA; Denise Hill, DOE; Luwanda Jones, VA; Robert Lahmann, SEC; Carlo Lucchesi, FBI; Darryl Peek, DHS; Chad Sheridan, USDA RMA; John Sprague, NASA; and Natasha Varlack, USDA AMS.
GITEC was established in response to a June 28, 1966 White House memorandum to provide a forum through which Senior Level Government and Industry Executives could share and collaborate in an open forum on Information Technology (IT) ideas, challenges and successes.
For over 50 years, GITEC organized and structured an impressive array of initiatives to focus on vital and timely issues affecting the direction and future of IT, including executive seminars, workgroups, summits, committees, and for 25 years, GITEC hosted the annual Information Processing Interagency Conference.
Beginning with its 25th anniversary in 2009, GITEC changed its focus to reflect a new era for IT professionals and a new Administration. In March of 2010, GITEC hosted its first GITEC Summit.
Similar to GITEC, ATARC expanded from its original focus.
Created in September of 2012, the Advanced Mobility Academic Research Center (AMARC) was formed in response to the Digital Government Strategy, which was released earlier that year. AMARC founder Tom Suder played a prominent role in the formation of the DGS and created ATARC to continue the dialogue between government, industry and academia.
AMARC hosted a pair of Federal Mobile Computing Summits before being asked by the General Services Administration in 2013 to hold additional events on the topics of Cloud Computing and IT Networks.
As AMARC’s collaborative focus changed from Mobile to Federal IT, so too did its name. In early 2014, Suder renamed AMARC the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center and within the next year, ATARC expanded its portfolio to include Cybersecurity, DevOps, Data & Analytics and Health IT events.
In 2017, ATARC published a 235-page report to the American Technology Council and Federal CIO Council entitled Navigating the Future of Mobile Services. Produced in the spirit of the Digital Government Strategy and in conjunction with the cross-agency Mobile Services Category Team, the report was a collaborative effort between more than 160 people representing 75 agencies, bureaus and companies.
In 2018, ATARC published its 25th White Paper in conjunction with MITRE as outputs from events in the ATARC Federal IT Summit Series.