Stephen W. Warren. Chief Information Officer Office of Information and Technology Department of Veterans Affairs. OSEHRA Summit September 4, 2014

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1 Stephen W. Warren Chief Information Officer Office of Information and Technology Department of Veterans Affairs OSEHRA Summit September 4, 2014

2 VA s Open Source Position VA sees value in using and contributing to open source software Increases openness and transparency of operations Supports a level playing field for working with VA and leveraging VA funded resources and opportunities Eliminates/Reduces costs, including: Software licensing costs (eliminates vendor lock-in) Software development costs Long-term software maintenance costs 2

3 VA s Open Source Position (con t) Streamlines introduction of innovations and best practices The OS community have a better ability to anticipate and support future APIs when codes are available in the OS VA has access to a wide variety of solutions and innovations VA has the ability to explore and evaluate various technical solutions that have been created by the OS community Lowers project execution risk Risks are caught earlier Improves code base quality VA has the ability to obtain codes built by top developers 3

4 VA s Open Source Position (con t) Value is greatest when working with large, diverse, and well organized open source communities with a long history of successful software development VA has a preference for working with open source software solutions and open source communities 4

5 Connectors for the Scheduling System in Open Source VA s intent is to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new Medical Appointment Scheduling System by the end of September 2014, allowing vendors 30 days to respond from the day of issuance This system will replace the legacy scheduling system The new system will improve access to care for Veterans by providing medical schedulers with cutting-edge, management-based scheduling software The solicitation will require a two-part demonstration of capabilities A written proposal A technical demonstration to scheduling staff 5

6 Connectors for the Scheduling System in Open Source (con t) VA is working with Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) to incorporate the groups feedback on requirements important to Veterans for the RFP process User experience Business process documentation VA s acquisition process will comply with recently established legislative requirements related to the Department s scheduling software As a part of the acquisition process, the vendor that is chosen will be required to build a connector between their product or service and the VistA system This connector will be non-proprietary, open in design, and located in the VA GitHub repository 6

7 VA on GitHub VA currently has over 40 open source code repositories distributed throughout GitHub Going forward, VA plans to provide access to ALL VA developed software through GitHub repositories, so these project numbers will rapidly grow VA is setting up an organizational page on GitHub to make it easier for users and developers to find and keep track of VA s open source repositories 7

8 VA on GitHub (con t) The VA GitHub Page has been launched 8

9 Code Intake and Collaboration At the 2013 OSEHRA Summit, we heard feedback that there was a lack of OS software collaboration and code intake back into VA Today we are collaboratively working with the OS community on (4) projects Fileman 22.2 Code intake is starting point for continued VE Fileman development Working on releasing the RFP VistA Broker Approach Consolidation/refinement of brokers is needed to further improve security An OS software community developed white paper is under review in/outside VA M-Unit: Regression Testing Code for M M-Unit package is nearing completion of OSEHRA certification Small, well contained package that will quickly complete VA intake in 2014 Immunization Package Weekly OS software collaboration meetings have made steady progress Most collaborative OS project underway at VA 9

10 Code Intake and Collaboration (con t) VistA Intake Program (VIP) has been formed VIP s goal is to rapidly review, remediate, test, and release existing OS software products Adds another intake channel for funding and realization of open source software Candidates to be reviewed case-by-case and prioritized by VHA Business sponsorship is required for each project Infrastructure projects will have OI&T as sponsor First candidates to begin intake in Q

11 VA s Open Source Policy VA is currently working on the creation of a VA Open Source Software Directive Thorough consideration of all viable software solutions Additional PWS guidance on implementation and approach, including OS collaboration expectations Seeking input from the OS community 11

12 Open Source Emphasis in Future T4 Contracts Future T4 contracts will express VA s interest in using open source solutions: VA must look at competitive open source software solutions in addition to proprietary solutions VA will evaluate package/system development costs considering cost sharing enabled by open source communities VA will evaluate long-term licensing costs VA will evaluate long-term maintenance costs and cost sharing, also enabled by open source communities When choosing an open source software approach, VA will look for vendors with relevant open source experience and expertise When developing software, VA will collaboratively engage with open source communities whenever possible 12

13 Open Source Emphasis in Future T4 Contracts (con t) We asked for your feedback on the T4 Next Generation (T4NG) RFI 13

14 Questions? 14