Appears In
On December 17, 2024, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) leaders joined GOVTECH CONNECTS to showcase our Vision for Digital Transformation at the VA Digital Health Summit. Presenting to a packed house at The National Press Club, VA experts shared their perspectives on the latest innovations and emerging technologies shaping the future of VA care for the nation’s Veterans.
Challenges and Opportunities in IT Modernization
From IT modernization and cybersecurity to strategic sourcing, the summit was filled with engaging discussions, providing a glimpse into the challenges VA faces and opportunities ahead to make VA’s IT systems more accessible, secure, and responsive to users’ needs. Throughout the event, VA leaders shared the importance of fostering collaboration and strengthening partnerships between VA and industry leaders to address critical issues and identify innovative approaches to enhance the user experience.
Keynote Address: Technology That Serves Veterans
VA Chief Information Officer Kurt DelBene kicked off with a compelling keynote, emphasizing VA’s role in creating technology that is both veteran-centric and future-ready to support the complexity of VA’s IT infrastructure. As the “largest IT shop in the United States,” Mr. DelBene explained the importance of keeping up with the emerging demands and constraints at VA by refining our strategic plans and initiatives to support the nation’s Veterans and all VA stakeholders. As one example, in 2024, VA supported over 1 million claims over the previous year as the PACT Act created a record demand among Veterans and their survivors to receive VA benefits and care. “We are surpassing the expectations we all had,” Mr. DelBene shared.
VA supports 2.7 million pieces of equipment that require continuous monitoring to maintain a strong security posture and ensure aging systems are modernized as we work toward an evergreen state. Most recently, VA identified 100 of the most critical bedrock systems, which are now operating at 99.9% uptime through continuous monitoring efforts.
“You don’t have a great system unless people love using it,” Mr. DelBene shared. “That’s why we’re measuring usability…and why we’ve invested heavily in VA.gov to create a great user experience for Veterans.” Every month, on average, 17 million people log into VA.gov and 1.3 million people sign into the VA Health and Benefits mobile app. “Our goal is to make sure that every ounce of functionality that exists for Veterans is easily accessible and delightful to use.”
Cybersecurity as a Critical Priority
The scale and complexity of VA’s health care system present unique challenges in cybersecurity implementation. “We’re very passionate about Zero Trust as our North Star here,” Mr. DelBene added when discussing cybersecurity at VA. “It’s a lot of monitoring that we have to build into our systems that we don’t have today. We still have a long way to go there and it’s absolutely critical to us.”
Mr. DelBene’s keynote set a tone of optimism and determination, reinforcing VA’s commitment to leveraging state-of-the-art technology and strategic partnerships to benefit those who served. “There’s no better and more sacred mission in the federal government than the one we do every day,” Mr. DelBene concluded before the panelists took the stage.
The summit continued with a series of five panel discussions, each offering deeper insight into VA’s priorities. Topics included: acquisitions, optimizing the Veteran experience, artificial intelligence (AI), the next wave of Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM), Human Resources management, and cybersecurity.
In-Depth Discussions on VA’s Priorities
When discussing acquisitions, Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Office of Strategic Sourcing, Dr. Luwanda Jones explained, “we want to make sure that we have the best-in-class contract vehicles.” As VA integrates systems and keeps pace with the ever-changing technological landscape, we strive to create partnerships and collaborate with vendors or other agencies that help us identify simpler and more effective tools—including automation such as artificial intelligence (AI).
VA focuses on human-centered design to improve the customer experience across all channels. By partnering with vendors, we can work together to remedy gaps and execute strategies within our data collection process to provide more accurate, consistent, and timely information across the enterprise. In turn, we enhance the experience for the entire Veteran community.
Collaborating for a Stronger VA
The summit also highlighted opportunities for industry collaboration to address the critical issues VA continues to face. “It’s important to be able to collaborate across the different Administrations to understand what it means for security,” Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, Ms. Amber Pearson shared in the closing panel. To keep VA data and systems secure, reliable, and accessible (only to those who need it), VA is partnering with vendors to deploy advanced cybersecurity measures and modernize our complex infrastructure. These efforts are essential for safeguarding Veteran data against evolving threats in the health care industry.
A Future of Modern, Effective Veteran Services
The VA Digital Health Summit highlighted VA’s unwavering commitment to leveraging technology, innovation, and partnerships to deliver world-class care to Veterans. Our collaborative approach promises to create VA services that are modern, effective, and overall, enjoyable to use. As these initiatives take shape in the upcoming year, all VA stakeholders — especially Veterans — can look forward to VA services that are attuned to their unique needs.
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