About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-01-691R 1 (2001-05-02)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptanjr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SGAO Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 May 2, 2001 The Honorable Steve Buyer Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Veterans' Affairs House of Representatives Subject: Veterans Affairs: Subcommittee Questions Concerning the Department's Information Technology Program Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter responds to your April 12, 2001, request that we provide answers to questions relating to our testimony of April 4, 2001.1 During that testimony, we discussed the status of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) efforts to address numerous information technology challenges, including filling its chief information officer (CIO) position, improving computer security, and refining its processes for selecting, controlling, and evaluating its information technology investments. Your questions, along with our responses, follow. 1. What has been the impact for the VA lacking a dedicated CIO? Appointing a permanent CIO is critical to the success of VA's information technology (IT) program. CIOs play an essential role in driving management processes to help control system development risks, better manage IT spending, and succeed in achieving real, measurable improvements in agency performance. Without such an official, VA lacks the level of leadership and focus needed to assist the Secretary and his executive management team in effectively identifying and responding to departmental IT challenges and in using IT to help realize improvements in the department's programs and operations. VA faces long-standing and critical IT challenges and concerns. Our prior reports and testimonies have highlighted weaknesses in the department's efforts to develop an enterprise architecture, improve computer security, improve IT investment management, and implement and use key information systems. Each of these weaknesses has significant implications for the department, and when considered collectively, they reflect a critical need for the immediate and sustained attention of a CIO. 1VA Information Technology: Important Initiatives Begun, Yet Serious Vulnerabilities Persist (GAO-01-550T, April 4, 2001). GAO-01-691R VA IT Questions

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most