VA hires former FEMA acting CIO
The Department of Veterans Affairs has hired Rob C. Thomas II, the former acting chief information officer at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to serve as the VA’s new assistant deputy CIO for product support and fill a new role as a federal integrator for the agency’s IT office, FedScoop has learned.
Thomas’ first day on the job was March 8, according to an internal memo from VA CIO Stephen Warren obtained by FedScoop. He is based in the VA’s St. Petersburg, Florida, field office.
Rob C. Thomas II (FEMA)
Prior to his tenure at FEMA, Thomas was the vice president of enterprise transformation at Accenture. He also served as the chief architect of the Defense Department’s NextGen Net-Centric cross-agency strategy to develop a net-centric air travel system in the U.S. His other roles have included deputy chief of staff for warfighting integration and deputy CIO for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.
His new position at VA, however, signals a change in the way the agency delivers IT products to its users around the country.
“We’re asking Rob to take on the role of federal integrator for VA OI&T,” Warren said in his memo to VA OI&T staff. “This means that as our ASD Product and Platform Management (PPM) group works with customers on new product needs, Rob and his team will serve as the integrators with the builders. As the builders develop products, Rob and his team will then work with the support teams across OI&T to be prepared for deliveries and release management. This will better enable us to build, deliver, and support our products with the full lifecycle in mind. This is something high-functioning businesses already do, and we’re looking to Rob to help us achieve this goal to support the VA mission.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Thomas chaired the federal enterprise architecture efforts at the federal CIO Council from 1999 to 2002. During that time, the CIO Council developed the first Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework, the Architecture Alignment and Assessment guide and the Practical Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture.
