Dee Waddell, Acting Chief Information Officer of Amtrak

Episode Overview

• The similarities and differences between Amtrak and other travel organizations, such as airlines, that Dee has been a part of
• Amtrak’s new eTicketing initiative, and how it can help transform Amtrak through not only improving the customer experience, but also through streamlining processing and reducing paperwork
• How Amtrak’s IT organization has matured in recent years, and have transitioned from being an internally focused IT organization, to one that focuses on delivering business value
• The recent development of a Project Management Office and an Enterprise Architecture Group that were put in place to ensure transparency and optimal governance as funds for initiatives increase
• The development of Amtrak’s corporate strategy, and how it was a collaborative effort built by multiple levels of people at Amtrak
• Eye on Trends: Mobility and how it can drive innovations, cloud computing and the cost benefits it offers, as well as social media and collaboration technologies, and how they can help reduce silos within an organization

Dee Waddell’s Biography

Dee is the Acting Chief Information Officer of Amtrak, a government-owned railroad corporation.  He reports to the CEO and provides business leadership as an executive committee member and is responsible for all aspects of IT with an overall budget of over $270 million in FY 2012.

Previous to this appointment, Dee served as Group Chief Information Officer, supporting the marketing and customer initiatives of the company. Prior to Amtrak, Dee was with United Airlines leading united.com and was responsible for e-commerce revenue of nearly $3 billion.  Dee has led large initiatives in both business and technology roles at a number of major organizations including Motorola, Accenture and the Department of Defense. Dee was recognized in 2009 by CIO Magazine as a “rising star in IT”, with special distinction as a stand-out winner in team-building.

Dee has a BA in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, an MBA in Strategic Management from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and is currently working towards his Doctorate in Management from the University of Maryland.

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