What Do Café Au Lait, Kindness, and Governance Have in Common?

February 17, 2022 is Random Acts of Kindness Day in the USA and National Café au Lait Day. It’s also Global Information Governance Day. While not as delicious as coffee with milk or fulfilling as a good deed, information technology (IT) governance matters at the VA — especially to the Office of Information and Technology and our partners across VA who use technology to serve Veterans.

So, in addition to savoring your warm cup of joe and remembering to show acts of kindness to friends, colleagues, and even strangers, please take a few minutes to read this post to learn why IT Governance is important at VA to drive digital transformation efforts that help VA better serve Veterans.  

IT governance, which falls under the information governance umbrella, plays a major role in workstreams across VA. On this 10th Annual Global Information Governance Day on February 17, 2022, it’s a good time to take a closer look at how IT governance helps VA remain an industry leader in health care and benefits.

How does IT Governance support VA operations?

Good IT governance ensures IT decisions are made in a manner that is participatory, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and accountable across all of VA. The Office of Information and Technology is open with staff and partners about all the different IT governance bodies in place, what they do, why they are important, and how they support your workstreams.

In December 2014, Congress passed the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), which established a framework for how federal agencies acquire and manage IT assets. Since then, and under the Chief Information Officer’s (CIO) direction, VA has developed a plan to budget for and execute IT governance resources. OIT Governance contributes to enterprise-wide programs to ensure that VA employees, Veterans, and caregivers have access to modern, seamless, and secure IT resources.

Most notably, OIT Governance was essential to VA’s rapid pandemic response, efficiently and effectively providing oversight for more than $2.1 billion and standing up the IT needed for testing and vaccine support services nationwide. The temporary COVID-19 IT Governance Council orchestrated timely results, while permanent councils and committees continue to oversee other important areas of VA’s digital transformation.

How do you learn more?

To learn more about what IT Governance is and how it supports OIT workstreams, check out the following OIT Governance resources:

• Government Matters Interview with Ms. Martha Orr, Deputy Chief Information Officer and Chief Risk Officer and Ms. Merissa Larson, Executive Director of Quality and Risk
• FedHeads Podcast with Ms. Orr and Ms. Larson