The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) received a Presidential Quality Improvement Award on July 15 at the 1999 Excellence in Government Conference in Washington D.C. Barbara A. McNamara, Deputy Director NSA, accepted the award on behalf of the NSA/CSS workforce from Janice R. Lachance, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) is America's cryptologic organization, charged with providing and protecting vital information for the United States. NSA/CSS leads the world in cryptology, which gives America a unique advantage in its ability to understand the secret communications of our foreign adversaries, while protecting our own communications. NSA/CSS's receipt of an Award for Quality Improvement in the President's Quality Award Program publicly acknowledges the day-to-day successes of NSA/CSS's people, who labor diligently to provide a critical service to the nation.

In striving to achieve information superiority for the U.S. and its allies, NSA/CSS is committed to providing accurate, useful information and products in a timely manner to all of its customers throughout the government -- from the White House to military forces around the globe. To produce signals intelligence, NSA/CSS intercepts and analyzes foreign communications signals, many of which are guarded by codes and other complex countermeasures. By providing security solutions for information systems, NSA/CSS protects information infrastructures critical to national security.

The Presidential Award for Quality Improvement is similar to the Malcolm Baldridge Award for Quality in the private sector. Assessment teams, who review the applications and conduct site visits to the qualifying organizations, evaluate efforts in the following seven categories: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, information and analysis, human resources, process management and business results. The award is presented annually to federal organizations who have demonstrated (1) sound and systematic approaches to delivering quality products and services to customers, (2) continuous process improvements, and (3) documented business processes. Quality Improvement winners have essential quality management systems and approaches in place and, over time, will be able to demonstrate measurable results.

NSA/CSS began to incorporate total quality into its day-to-day business operations and strategic planning efforts more than 10 years ago. Today, the Agency is implementing its National Cryptologic Strategy for the 21st Century, which lays out a plan for continuing to deliver timely and reliable products to its customers and for effectively managing its processes, partnerships, technology, resources, and workforce.

For additional information about the NSA, please visit NSA's web site, http://www.nsa.gov. Additional information regarding the 1999 Excellence in Government Conference can be found at http://www.excelgov.com.