“The Department of Veterans Affairs wants to be a leader in digital transformation for the federal government.”
“Both the size and scope of the agency, VA leaders believe, gives it a unique opportunity to demonstrate just how change could work.”
“Kurt DelBene, the VA’s assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer, said he plans to build on and accelerate the progress VA has made over the last decade.”
“’As we begin to do some modernization of our core stack, we are engaged in a huge number of system transformations a colossal number from commercial standards alone. Currently, we’re updating our financial management and logistics systems. We’re enabling support for caregivers through enhancements to our benefit systems. And we’re undergoing transformation of our electronic health record system as well,’ DelBene said during a recent discussion with reporters. ‘Our focus is on innovation and bringing industry best practices and cutting edge technology to the VA. We’re also driving really hard on the having a world class veterans digital experience. We have significantly improved both our veterans’ online customer satisfaction as well as usage, allowing veterans to streamline their health care disabilities and education benefits, payments and other information that impacts their daily lives…'”
“Deliver benefits to veterans
DelBene is not the first CIO to come to VA with a big vision and set of goals. Over the last 13 years, VA has seen its share of IT executives come in and leave out the door — now four Senate confirmed assistant secretaries and CIOs since 2009 with the average tenure of 18 months.”
“Congress and other VA customers have decried the inconsistent leadership around technology at the political level. Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on IT Modernization, said in October that the inconsistent leadership is one of the main reasons why VA continually struggles with major IT projects.”
“DelBene, to his credit, seems keenly aware of the challenges VA is facing. This is his second stint in government, working as a senior advisor to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in December 2013 as part of the team to help fix Healthcare.gov. He also was part of the Defense Innovation Board in 2020 and 2021.”
“’If there’s one thing I hope to hang my hat on at the end of the day, it’s being a part of that transformation. It just delivers benefits across the entire spectrum. What you deliver is more focused. You’re agile and that you respond as needs change. Your resource allocation is better, outcomes are better because they’re tied to what the end user needs. It just delivers benefits across the line,’ he said…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA’s digital transformation is the new CIO’s ‘North Star’ goal – By Jason Miller, March 11, 2021. Federal News Network.
