VA appoints a new chief data officer

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced the appointment of Kshemendra Paul, executive director for Data Governance and Analytics and the department’s Chief Data Officer.

VA designated a Chief Data Officer under Public Law 115-435, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, which was signed by President Trump on January 14. The Act requires federal agencies to develop statistical evidence to support policymaking, maintain a comprehensive data inventory available to the public and implement protections to ensure security of confidential information

“President Trump is delivering on his promises to improve care for our Veterans and make government work better for the American people,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “We will continue to build on this progress by leveraging data as an asset to better deliver the care and services Veterans expect and deserve.”

The President’s Management Agenda calls for the development of a federal data strategy to improve government operations and evidence-based policymaking. VA’s Chief Data Officer will support this effort through improved data governance, transparency and innovation. 

Paul brings extensive experience in enterprise data management including data architecture, data sharing, safeguarding and digital transformation to VA. His appointment will strengthen VA’s established Data Governance Council during this unprecedented period of transformation for the agency.

VA maintains comprehensive data on America’s Veterans through the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics including Veteran population projections and statistics on their utilization of VA benefits and health care services.