VA Sets New Stage for Digital Transformation

Published: May 25, 2022

Federal Market AnalysisInformation TechnologyIT ReformVA

VA published a vision document to guide the department’s digital transformation and position VA’s IT organization as best in class.

Earlier this month, VA Office of Information and Technology (OIT) published a 12-page Vision for Digital Transformation to set the foundation for making the VA IT organization the best in government.

According to the report, digital transformation is broader than just investments in technology such as cloud computing, analytics and cybersecurity; it is providing veterans and other customers with the kind of experience they are accustomed to with commercial organizations like depositing a check from a phone, accessing an auto insurance card from an app, or chatting with a customer service rep via text.

The report states, “To meet Veterans where they are, with reliability and with consistency, OIT must be single-minded in our focus on developing a clear vision for our work, creating priority-driven roadmaps, and executing with excellence, with rigor, and with consistency over time at every level.”

In order for VA OIT to become the leading government IT organization, it must focus on four critical areas: 

The vision document offers details for each of the four critical areas. Some of the highlights include the following:

  • Vision-driven execution includes developing and deploying multi-year roadmaps and outcomes-based progress metrics, aligned with stakeholder expectations and consistent with current resource constraints.
  • Operational excellence will be achieved through engineering excellence, security excellence and effective resource allocation.
  • Delightful end-user experience means delivering veteran-facing products that incorporate early veteran input, work as expected, help make veterans’ time more productive, and bring new capabilities.
  • People excellence involves more clearly defined IT career pathways, invigorating career progression plans, improving recruiting, and creating an environment where all team members feel supported and included.

As VA continues its digital transformation, IT contractors will likely find opportunities to assist OIT with modernization efforts such as app development to improve the customer experience and provide self-service, workforce training and upskilling, and bolstering VA’s cybersecurity posture.