Accenture Federal Services opens Innovation Center to serve SSA, CMS

Accenture Federal Services unveiled a new facility to help federal clients like the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services innovate, company officials said Monday.

The new Baltimore-based Accenture Innovation Center for Technology will have an initial staff of 150, and the company plans to double the workforce there within the next two years.

“We’re really hoping that we can use the center to bring digital transformation to our clients, you know cloud, mobile, analytics,” said Mary Edwards, Accenture’s senior managing director and civilian health practice lead, to FedScoop. “The kinds of new technologies and innovations that are helping to transform businesses, and where government is looking to transform itself.”

Accenture has innovation centers around the world, and its federal subsidiary has a few facilities focused on government performance.

“We look forward to attracting the area’s top talent and giving them the opportunity to do work that matters and build careers that bring new IT capabilities and expertise in digital, cloud and cyber into government programs at the heart of our nation’s priorities,” said David Moskovitz, chief executive of Accenture Federal Services in a press release.

Accenture recruits locally, according to the press release, and is working with Baltimore schools to build the IT workforce through coding and public speaking classes.

Nearly half of the Accenture staff on SSA’s Information Technology Support Services Contract program, for example, are university graduates from Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia, according to the press release.

“The new Accenture Innovation Center for Technology in Baltimore is a welcome addition to the local economy and community and should create high-quality technology jobs,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in a press release.

Accenture is already working with the agencies, both of which are based in Baltimore, on major IT projects. Edwards said it’s working with CMS to stabilize Healthcare.gov and improve customer experience. It’s also helped SSA with emerging technology, and has implemented cloud technologies and a mobile device strategy, Edwards said.

Edwards said its clients would be best served with the innovation center in Baltimore.

“It just makes sense given the density of government business here in the Baltimore region … that we have an office in proximity to these clients where they can easily, you know, step over and in, and be connected to our capabilities around the country and around the world,” Edwards said.