RIVA’s Solution Center Reimagines Solutions for Federal Clients

Federal Agencies and organizations across the globe are having to change the way they operate their business to meet new demands and emerging threats. In order to combat these challenges new technology solutions must be developed to adapt to our changing world. RIVA has taken these challenges head on and has invested in a new department dedicated to address these needs by establishing a Solutions Department led by David Callner our Vice President of Technology Solutions.  

RIVA’s new Innovative Solution Center (ISC) will focus on purposeful transformations that modernize and accelerate innovation to keep the public safe through a modern military, to ensuring citizens have access to government services, our solutions ensure the right capabilities, with the most valuable data insights, are delivered to our customers quickly. Advanced technologies play an important role in the delivery of, the value our network of member firms’ clients derive from those services, and their ability to sustain and grow that value over time. Our technology solutions help clients accelerate their time to value, reduce implementation costs and risks, and capture new opportunities to apply innovation and market advancements.

RIVA’s new ISC develops technology solutions across eight core capabilities to help existing and prospective clients save money, reduce implementation risk, and adapt to a changing environment as an innovator in the Federal IT landscape. 

How Does It Work?

1.    Collaboration Matters. The RIVA ISC works closely with members of our Innovation Lab to analyze Federal agency requirements and craft the right solution. Our subject matter experts, consultants, strategists, developers, and engineers collaborate with technology partners, academia, start-ups, and incubators to turn ideas into solutions that advance the missions we support. 

2.    Our Innovation Process. All our solutions are developed with deep industry experience and applied business functionality. RIVA’s unique approach to implementing emerging technologies starts with RIVA’s investment in our Innovation Lab centered around Artificial Intelligence, Agile, Blockchain, DevSecOps, Cybersecurity, Big Data and Data Analytics, and Cloud Solutions to our customers as a corporate arm. RIVA holds monthly meetings with all Program Managers (PM) across all our programs to evaluate our people, process, and technology to identify areas of continuous service improvement. During these meetings we cross-pollinate services excellence success stories and work together to drive innovation and evaluate a variety of emerging technologies and how they might benefit each program. Our Innovation Lab follows a comprehensive innovation process that engages our customer’s leadership throughout each of the steps. We summarize our Innovation Lab innovation steps as follows:  

• Ideation: We work with key stakeholders to define conceptual ideas, and the value proposition to provide innovation.  
• Concept design: A first rough conceptualization of the key innovation model elements is developed and documented.  
• Virtual prototyping: A range of prototypes is generated and revised to refine and communicate the innovation model concept. The phase also comprises benchmarking with solutions and concepts from other parties.  
• Experimenting: Key assumptions and variables of the concept are tested in simulations and field experiments, ideally through randomized controlled trials.  
• Detail design: An in-depth analysis and detailing of all the elements of the innovation model and interactions between these elements is conducted.  
• Piloting: The entire concept is tested by running a first limited version of the innovation model in a subsection of the target market.  
• Launch: The innovation is rolled out to provide service excellence.  
• Adjustment and diversification: The innovation model is revised according to initial plans, expectations, and strategic fit. This innovation is shared with the rest of RIVA’s Innovation Lab’s to be shared across other programs that we support. 

3.    Where It’s Worked. The RIVA ISC and Innovation Lab have supported the development of large enterprise satellite systems at the DOC NOAA for specific scientific weather products. We have also worked with the Department of Education Federal Student Aid (FSA) Office to provide a Chatbot that leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to improve and transform FSA’s customer service mission and business processes.  

About the Author. David Callner, Vice President of Technology Solutions, is building the RIVA ISC. David Callner is an accomplished executive and visionary problem solver. Known by his peers as an out-of-the-box thinker, David brings uncompromising dedication to delivering lean IT services using the latest state of the art technology. He provides technical capture management, oversees RIVA’s corporate technology practices, and leads the implementation of innovative solutions and best practices across programs. David distinguished 20+ year IT career highlights include MITRE, Lockheed Martin, MIT Lincoln Labs, and Raytheon. Prior to joining RIVA Solutions, David was the Chief Technology Officer for CALNET, Obsidian, and DTIS. He has worked as a Technology Advisor for multiple Venture Capital Companies around the beltway, and he has even launched his own Artificial Intelligence (AI) firm, TuringFantasy, and is the thought leader that sparked RIVA’s OpenCloudCX.