August 26, 2010 — Diane Herdt has spent more of her 30-plus years in government with the General Services Administration. Now as the Public Buildings Services’ chief information officer, Herdt is bringing together all of her experience into one job.

But that doesn’t mean she is resting on her laurels either. Herdt is a key player in GSA’s initiative to use technology to improve the energy efficiencies of the buildings the government owns, or has long-term leases on.

PBS oversees 360 million square feet of office space in about 9,000 owned and leased spaces. Included in those 9,000 buildings are 480 historical properties that makes technology upgrades more complex. She is playing a key role in installing smart technology into those many of those buildings through the billions of dollars GSA received in the Recovery Act.

Herdt said among her top priorities in her $180 million budget is the implementation of the Real Estate Across the U.S., or REXUS, system. It will consolidate about 50 regional applications to help PBS better track all the buildings it owns and leases.

Herdt said another priority is to encourage more PBS employees to telework. To do so, PBS is consolidating work spaces and promoting hotelling to reduce the amount of office space it uses.

She said employees already have laptops and mobile devices, but PBS also is sending managers to training. Herdt also said GSA’s upcoming e-mail consolidation and enhancements will give employees better tools to communicate and collaborate.

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