VA Names New Deputy IT Chief
Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By
Frank Konkel
Ron Thompson, a U.S. Army veteran, has more than 25 years of experience in both government and the private sector.
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today it has hired Ron Thompson, currently an IT executive at the Department of Health and Human Services, to serve as the agency’s deputy IT chief.
Thompson, whose official title will be principal deputy assistant secretary for information and technology, will replace former Deputy Assistant Secretary Steph Warren, who left VA in August to become the Office of the Comptroller of Currency’s CIO.
The announcement was made in an email to the 8,000-plus employees of VA’s Office of Information Technology from VA CIO LaVerne Council. She also serves as the agency’s assistant secretary for information and technology.
Thompson, a U.S. Army veteran, has more than 25 years of experience in both government and the private sector. He’ll depart HHS as the executive director of IT and infrastructure operations before beginning his new position at VA on Jan. 10.
Thompson’s role is “critical” to IT leadership at VA, Council said in the email. Thompson will provide the “day-to-day operational leadership our team needs to accomplish our IT strategic initiatives,” she added. “Ron’s breadth of hands-on experience in organizational design and transformation will bring new perspectives in partnership and creative problem solving, and his years of service in the United States Army will help him ensure that the veteran remains the focal point of everything we do.”
VA’s deputy CIOs will report to Thompson, who will report to Council.
(Image via Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com)