Deborah Diaz, Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has been named as an honoree by the Washington Business Journal in the fourth annual “Women Who Mean Business” awards program – the sole government executive on the 2007 list.

Recognized as a top Washington information technology leader and agent of change, Ms. Diaz is helping to transform USPTO electronic commerce and managing a wide range of significant IT initiatives to modernize business process and systems. Some of these initiatives include facilitating growth in the electronic business systems of the EFS-Web patent filing system, the Trademark Electronic Application Submission (TEAS) system, and ensuring efficient electronic document exchange with USPTO’s international partners. Recently she created new collaboration tools and Web 2.0 technologies for data and multimedia exchange to support USPTO’s award-winning telework program.

Prior to joining the USPTO, Ms. Diaz served as the Science and Technology CIO of the Department of Homeland Security…member of the President’s Management Council where she helped create the government’s first electronic government-wide citizen portal…international consultant and federal official for the World Bank, State Department, World Trade Organization, NATO, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ms. Diaz also worked in the private sector in management positions for several industry leaders.

“Deborah Diaz is a dedicated professional who has made incredible contributions to the USPTO, the federal government and the IT community. She is a committed volunteer and mentor to colleagues both inside and outside the USPTO,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas. “She is truly a woman who means business, one of USPTO's outstanding female leaders, and a person who supports her community.”