IT Reform at the Department of Veterans Affairs

As perhaps the largest consolidated IT organization in the world, our goal at VA is to also be the best IT organization in the federal government. So we are frequent users of the words “Transformation” and “Reform.” Most importantly, we use the word “discipline” on a regular basis, because for federal IT, transformation is all about instilling the disciplines practiced by effective private sector organizations: focusing on results, measuring our performance, caring about every dollar, and making hard decisions.
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The Honorable Roger W. Baker
Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology
Department of Veterans Affairs

Roger W. Baker was nominated by President Obama to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology for the Department of Veterans Affairs and subsequently confirmed by the Senate on May 18, 2009.

As Assistant Secretary, Mr. Baker serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department, directly managing an organization of over 6,500 information technology (IT) professionals and a budget of over $2.5 billion.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Baker was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of Dataline LLC, a mid-sized IT services and integration company based in Norfolk, Va. Prior to joining Dataline, Mr. Baker was CIO at General Dynamics Information Technology, and Executive Vice President and general manager of the Telecommunications and Information Assurance business group for CACI International.

From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Baker was the CIO at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he led efforts to convert old systems and processes to e-commerce, improve technology management, reduce costs, and create the Federal CIO position.

Prior to his federal service, Mr. Baker had a successful career in high technology, helping to grow and sell three software/Internet companies. He served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of BlueGill Technologies, a market leader in Internet Bill Presentment; as Vice President of Engineering and Operations at VISA International, where he was responsible for the creation and operation of the VISA Interactive Banking System; and as Vice President of Consulting and Services for Verdix Corporation.

Mr. Baker has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Masters in Business Administration, both from the University of Michigan.