Q&A: Introduction to Tariq Islam, the New Director of Technology and Solutions at Makpar

Tariq Islam

With a background in cutting-edge government IT innovation, Tariq Islam recently joined Makpar as the Director of Technology and Solutions. In this role, he will help to drive the overall technology vision and strategy for the company’s growth, including in emerging areas for the federal sector such as IoT, Blockchain, AI, Big Data, and beyond.

To officially introduce Tariq to Makpar’s ecosystem of government customers, partners and employees, we recently sat down with him to get his take on why he joined the company, and gain his perspective on the future of government IT.

Q: Please tell us about your background in the government IT space.

Tariq: I started my career as a software developer at Raytheon E-Systems, where I supported the development of the first unmanned aerial vehicles for the Department of Defense (DoD) in the late 1990s. From there, I worked for several other contractors serving a wide-range of civilian, DoD and Intelligence Community (IC) agencies. 

My longest tenure was supporting DISA for 10 years. And prior to coming to Makpar, I was Director of Consulting at CGI Federal, where I led the IoT practice area and supported a number of innovative initiatives for government agencies involving Blockchain, IoT, Big Data and AWS.

Q: After working for a multinational IT solutions company, why did you choose to work for a small family business?

Tariq: That is a great question. While I have enjoyed working for larger organizations, I wanted the opportunity to have a broader impact on an organization’s overall business and innovation evolution – and Makpar really fit the bill.

Makpar is a small business only in name, but their consulting approach reflects the company’s founders’ experience at larger firms. As a result, the company’s maturity level and business development efforts surpass what many smaller companies offer in the marketplace.  

I have a very good feeling about Makpar, its leadership, and overall offerings. They are really poised for growth, now and well into the future. I view this as a great opportunity.

Q: Please share with us your overall goals for Makpar in terms of technology and solutions.

Tariq: My first and foremost goal is to drive the overall technology vision and strategy for Makpar. I will be working across business development, program management, marketing, delivery, and the innovation lab, and hope to help the company go to the next level.

Specifically, I’m looking to establish Makpar as a compelling cloud solutions provider, further expand its software modernization capabilities, drive an overall technology roadmap, and introduce leading-edge technology into areas such as Blockchain, AI, IoT, and 5G.

I definitely want to help push the limits with Makpar, and there are many exciting new growth opportunities for the company.

Q: Overall, where do you think IT modernization in government is heading?

Tariq: This may be subjective, but I’ll share my perspective on this. Traditionally, the role of IT was to aid overall business improvement. This trend is reversing where technology is now the driver for government mission success.

For example, AI is the foundation for exciting automation capabilities in areas such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA). The cloud is also compelling government agencies to be more efficient and effective. Leveraging technologies to provide data-driven decision is becoming necessity for government. And, we have seen how Zoom, and other remote-working technologies, have helped agencies remain effective and productive during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In essence, government agencies are improving their mission efforts directly because of the technology itself. In many ways, we are seeing the technologies from older science fiction movies come to life – from robotic automation with AI, smart things, to self-driving cars – and this is paving the way to an exciting future for everyone.

Q: Anything else to add?

Tariq: I feel like innovation is essential for government efficiency, and technology is at the core of innovation. This goes hand-in-hand to where the future is going, where compute power will truly enable Blockchain, 5G, and Quantum Computing, which will all become normal in the next ten years.

As an IT consulting company, we have to always be on the cutting-edge to ensure that Makpar grows and evolves along with the technology. 

We would like to thank Tariq for taking the time to speak with us, and officially welcome him to the Makpar team!