VA opens center for virtual training of IT workforce

The Veterans Affairs Department has expanded its use of virtual technologies and distance learning in its new National Information Technology Training Academy that began operating a month ago in West Virginia.

The goal of the center is to train up to 200 VA employees at a time to strengthen their IT support skills and to improve transparency and information sharing in the department, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said March 12.

The National IT Training Academy, which opened Feb. 12, is linked with four existing regional VA training classrooms in Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida and Texas. It will be linked with two more training classrooms to open later this year in Utah and Washington State.

The national center has remote virtualization and teleconferencing capabilities, permitting more frequent training at reduced cost, the VA said. In addition to interactive video, the training will be presented in Web-based courses, on-demand recordings and live meetings.