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The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center is providing the Air Force with innovative solutions for teleworking in the wake of COVID-19.
Members of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and the AFIMSC Ventures innovation office are working together to develop a viable plan that will optimize telework operations for the workforce.
The team delivered a proposed strategy to Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson during a briefing July 22. The proposal supports the Air Force’s Infrastructure Investment Strategy by contributing to the five-percent demolition goal for existing infrastructure.
A recent study showed that “while there are substantial up-front costs to renovate, consolidate and demolish facilities, in the long-term, the Air Force could save up to $90 million annually in facility sustainment costs like custodial services and utilities,” said Marc Vandeveer, AFIMSC chief innovation officer.
“We wanted to assist senior leaders in their efforts to develop innovative ways of improving efficiency in our business processes, and leveraging these innovations is one way to avoid costs,” said Neal McElhannon, AFCEC Facility Space Planning and Optimization program manager.
This is particularly true when part of the workforce works from home and occupies collaborative space when it works on site.
“Our team performed the enterprise analysis of facility space utilization to help inform in this decision-making process,” McElhannon said.
Post COVID-19, Air Force leaders are targeting 30% of existing administration space to be converted into telework-friendly configurations, Vandeveer added.
Using existing data on Air Force facilities and infrastructure, and new business intelligence tools developed specifically for this initiative, AFIMSC will pursue two pilot studies, one at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and the other at Scott AFB, Illinois, to assess the real-world feasibility of telework effectiveness and cost savings.
Existing in a cloud environment called the VAULT at the Air Force Chief Data Office, the new tools will make it easier for the 1,000-plus account holders to access data across the installation and mission support enterprise to help senior leaders make informed decisions about the future of the Air Force workspace, Vandeveer said.
