Enabling secure, seamless, and mission-ready connectivity across a highly dispersed workforce extends beyond simply upgrading systems when it comes to modernizing federal IT infrastructure. Federal IT leaders are rethinking how networks support operations in real-time as agencies strike a balance between cybersecurity, mobility, and user experience. At the “Federal Executive Forum IT Modernization and Transformation in Government 2026 Progress & Best Practices” webinar, leaders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and Verizon discussed how they are advancing modernization strategies to enhance performance, security, and mission outcomes.
The panel of speakers included:
- Allen Strunk, G-6 Director, Army Corps of Engineers
- C. Melonie Cannon, Chief Information Officer, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, State Department
- John Larregui, Associate Director, Public Sector Sales, Verizon
Army Corps of Engineers: Enabling Secure, Scalable Connectivity
Strunk focused on the difficulty of delivering consistent IT services across a broad operational footprint. The agency faces unique pressures in its mission-critical operations. “It’s a mission that doesn’t slow down and it doesn’t operate in a controlled environment; it’s dynamic, it’s global, it’s often under pressure,” he explained.
To handle this complexity, standardization is key. Strunk emphasized that the Army Corps can improve reliability while maintaining flexibility for mission needs by reducing complexity and ensuring consistent service delivery throughout the agency. These efforts ensure that technology doesn’t become a barrier to mission success while supporting field operations, vital infrastructure projects, and disaster response.
State Department: Supporting Global Diplomacy
Cannon emphasized the significance of securing a globally distributed workforce operating in high-risk environments. The scale of this mission is significant: “We are, of course, a global mission. You know our mission is diplomacy. Every place you have an embassy or consulate, you have someone from Diplomatic Security in those areas.”
The agency must enable secure access from any location while maintaining operational security because its staff are dispersed throughout the world. According to Cannon, delivering secure access is foundational to supporting diplomatic missions worldwide. She also stressed the importance of balancing security and usability, recognizing that excessively restrictive security measures can encourage users to find workarounds, or implement shadow IT.
Verizon: Building Flexible and Secure Network Architectures
Larregui highlighted how agencies are moving toward flexible and scalable network architectures. He described the direction of the network evolution: “The biggest thing is being able to utilize things like AI, so that your network can always be moving and changing as it needs to be, so it’s going to be more dynamic, faster, and quicker.”
These capabilities are helping agencies respond more quickly to evolving mission requirements. He explained that modern network solutions are helping enable secure, high-performance connectivity for users wherever they are, positioning government agencies to instantly adapt their infrastructure to meet evolving operational needs.
The Future of Federal Connectivity
Across the panel participants, a clear theme emerged: network modernization is about enabling mission success through secure, scalable, and user-focused connectivity. To support increasingly complex operations, agencies are putting a high priority on mobility, flexibility, and standardization.
As federal missions continue to evolve, the ability to deliver secure, seamless access across environments will continue to be essential for long-term innovation and operational effectiveness.