FedScoop has been at the forefront of investigative reporting into the Department of Veterans Affairs and its efforts to deploy leading-edge information technology to improve its ability to serve millions of veterans and secure their private information.
In Focus: VA Technology and Security, provides a one-stop-shop for our ongoing coverage of the people, policies and technologies behind VA’s cyber struggles and the efforts to reform an agency under siege. Our coverage is posted chronologically. This page will be updated as new stories are published.
Miller calls on VA to answer for cybersecurity shortfalls
Thursday, July 17, 2014 · 7:00 am House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., has called on five senior VA officials, including acting Secretary Sloan Gibson, to testify at next week’s scheduled hearing on “longstanding information security weaknesses” that have enabled “data manipulation” throughout the agency. Documents obtained exclusively by FedScoop show that in addition to Gibson, the committee plans to question Assistant Secretary for Information Security Stan Lowe, Executive Director for Enterprise Risk Management Tina Burnette and …
VA adds two more execs to senior IT team
Tuesday, July 15, 2014 · 11:49 am The embattled Department of Veterans Affairs recently hired a new assistant deputy chief information officer for IT project management and product development and a chief learning officer for the Office of Information and Technology, according to an internal email obtained by FedScoop. The July 8 email from CIO Stephen Warren welcomes the addition of Steve Schliesman as the new assistant deputy CIO for project management and product development. The former director of the agency’s major transformation initiatives under ousted Secretary Eric Shinseki — the so-called Secretary’s 16 Major Initiatives — Schliesman will lead the management of various VA projects, including “developing and deploying applications and systems that provide world class health care services and benefits to our Nation’s Veterans,” Warren said in the email.
Joan Mooney, VA’s liaison to Congress, retires
Monday, June 23, 2014 · 12:26 pm The senior executive responsible for managing the Department of Veterans Affairs’ contentious relationship with Congress and ensuring the agency’s cooperation with independent audits by the Government Accountability Office retired June 20, FedScoop has learned. Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs Joan Mooney has left the government after more than 20 years of service, the last five of which she spent overseeing VA’s responses to tens of thousands of congressional inquiries on everything from major privacy breaches and hacking incidents to the recent scandal involving informal wait lists.
