“In light of the demands of federal IT modernization, the Department of Veterans Affairs has made considerable reforms to its technology acquisition process.”
“Much of the VA’s overhaul in its acquisitions process has centered on a combination of training reforms and knowledge sharing, with a particular emphasis on the newly launched Digital Information Technology Acquisition Professional (DITAP) training program. A product of the U.S. Digital Service’s broader efforts to modernize and streamline acquisitions across the federal government, the VA has emerged as one of the most comprehensive adopters of DITAP methodologies within its own Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) — with the majority of DITAP-certified federal workers currently in residence at the VA TAC.”
“The central goal of the DITAP program, as outlined in the USDS mission statement, is to encourage greater flexibility and responsiveness within the broader U.S. federal government acquisitions process — one that has periodically been criticized for not keeping pace with the expeditious demands of modernized digital services. In response, the DITAP program has emerged as a solution to train procurement officers in the methods needed to guide acquisitions along a more flexible rollout with the ultimate goal of sending newly certified contracting officers to major federal agencies.”
“With a critical mass of DITAP graduates now settled within the VA, the agency has emerged as one of the federal institutions most quickly reshaping its acquisitions process while also transforming into a knowledge hub that is sharing best practices with partner organizations…” Read the full article here.
Source: How Acquisition Reforms Are Improving VA’s Digital Modernization – By Adam Patterson, July 31, 2020. GovernmentCIO.
