FPPA's Members dedicate their careers to responding when people need them most. In many ways, the Information Technology (IT) team serves as FPPA's digital first responders. Whether they're protecting sensitive retirement data from cyber threats, supporting staff with technical issues, developing new online services, or ensuring critical systems remain available, the team is constantly working behind the scenes to keep FPPA operating smoothly. FPPA's IT professionals are planners, problem-solvers, cybersecurity experts, developers, and innovators who help ensure the organization can continue delivering reliable retirement services for generations to come.

Team Mission: Security. Accuracy. Reliability.

Trust is at the heart of FPPA’s relationship with its Members, and IT looks to three key areas to earn and keep it: security, accuracy, and reliability.

• Security: Keeping pension operations secure protects sensitive information and prevents fraud.
• Accuracy: Accurate pension calculations ensure correct benefits, reinforcing trust in long-term financial planning for first responders.
• Reliability: Dependable, always-available pension services give Members the peace of mind to confidently plan their futures.

Defending Member Data

Protecting sensitive data and maintaining uninterrupted service are foundational to earning—and keeping—the trust of FPPA staff, first responders, and their families. To protect sensitive personal and financial information, the team relies on a layered set of cybersecurity measures such as:

• Phishing exercises and an ongoing Phishing Tournament
• Annual cyber penetration tests
• Annual security awareness trainings
• Multiple annual audits
• Third-party risk management to keep vendors secure
• Bi-annual disaster recovery exercises
• Strict access management, so everyone has only the access they need

Data is arguably FPPA’s most prized asset, so the team uses industry-leading automated monitoring and response systems to detect and address potential issues before they ever reach users or Members. That proactive approach keeps the environment stable and secure.

Supporting Organizational Goals

Every project the IT team takes on is chosen to support FPPA’s broader goals. Through road mapping with input from across the organization, the team prioritizes the work that will most benefit Members, Employers, and staff. That means enhancing what the system can do, strengthening security, and above all, expanding the capabilities Members and Employers have when they interact with the Member Account Portal (MAP) and the Employer Portal. Recent and ongoing examples include:

• ID.me: A new, more secure way for Members to log in.
• Retirement Application Process (RAP) on MAP: The ability for a Member to file for retirement on their own through MAP.
• Terminate DROP on MAP: Members can file to terminate DROP on their own through MAP.
• Verification of Eligibility annual process has also been added to MAP.
• Pension administration enhancements: Ongoing updates to FPPA's pension administration platform strengthen reliability, improve workflows, and support the timely delivery of retirement benefits.

An AI-Ready Organization

The IT team is at the forefront of preparing FPPA for the AI movement. Every team member has dedicated themselves to specific training paths in this fast-moving field. The team is moving quickly but responsibly, under focused leadership and with a strong security foundation in place, to make sure FPPA’s infrastructure and applications can handle AI workloads and meet compliance. The team is quick to emphasize a key message after a company-wide rollout of Microsoft Copilot: AI isn’t here to replace anyone. It’s here to augment what people already do, like enhance service, automate routine tasks, and support better decision-making.

In Their Own Words