Former director of the FBI Laboratory Dr. Joseph DiZinno was appointed to AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ executive team in September as the Vice President of Identity Intelligence.
WashingtonExec interviewed Dr. DiZinno about his first month on the job, AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ strengths going into 2015 and his move from the public to private sector after more than 20 years of service with the FBI.
WashingtonExec: What makes you excited about your new position and how has the first month of the job been going?
Dr. DiZinno: AMERICAN SYSTEMS is a well-established contractor in the federal marketplace and has a reputation for high quality service to its customers. I believe that AMERICAN SYSTEMS genuinely serves to make a tangible difference in the lives of first-responders, critical civilian workers and warfighters. I have spent much of my first month learning about the wide variety of current AMERICAN SYSTEMS capabilities and discussing options for growth in the area of identity intelligence.
WashingtonExec: What are your day-to-day responsibilities as vice president of identity intelligence? What drew you to the role?
Dr. DiZinno: I will provide oversight and guidance for the continued expansion of the AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ Identity Intelligence practice. In that regard, I will help to serve AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ customers and lead next generation of growth in identity intelligence capabilities to assist U.S. government customers in national priority markets including counterterrorism, homeland security, federal law enforcement and federal healthcare.
WashingtonExec: What do you find most challenging about your role?
Dr. DiZinno: Identity intelligence technologies are constantly evolving and improving, which makes it difficult for any organizations, including organizations within the federal government, to stay abreast of the latest technology. In my role with AMERICAN SYSTEMS, I will strive to offer government customers the most appropriate and effective capabilities to accomplish their missions in the form of biometrics, forensic and digitally-enabled intelligence; informatics; simulation and training; and identity IT services.
WashingtonExec: Your career in government spans more than 20 years. Did you always know you were destined for public service? What made you want to move over to the private sector side?
Dr. DiZinno: I had an interest in working for the FBI since I was a child. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to fulfill my childhood dreams and was honored to spend more than 20 years working for the Bureau.
I am now fortunate to have the opportunity to work in the private sector for AMERICAN SYSTEMS, which has roots in both the public and private sectors. However, the AMERICAN SYSTEMS Identity Intelligence practice primarily serves government customers. In my work with AMERICAN SYSTEMS, I intend to assist U.S. government customers in their efforts to improve their identity intelligence efforts.
WashingtonExec: What are your company’s strengths going into 2015?
Dr. DiZinno: AMERICAN SYSTEMS has a holistic understanding of the capabilities and needs of U.S. government customers, which has been acquired from more than 40 years of dedicated and trusted service to U.S. government customers. The strength of AMERICAN SYSTEMS is its people who understand those capabilities and needs and are dedicated to assisting U.S. government customers successfully fulfill their critical missions.
WashingtonExec: What challenges does the intelligence community face in the coming 10 years?
Dr. DiZinno: Certainly, there are many challenges. However, from the perspective of a U.S. government contractor, one of the main challenges is enabling U.S. government contractors to continue to advance and deploy rapidly advancing technologies which can allow government organizations to successfully accomplish their critical missions. In the area of identity intelligence, developing and integrating new technology in fingerprint analysis, DNA analysis, facial recognition, video analysis, voice recognition and iris analysis capabilities are key challenges.
WashingtonExec: What is something most people don’t know about you?
Dr. DiZinno: Many people may not know that I have a degree in dentistry and actually practiced dentistry for approximately five years prior to entering into government service.
