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Network News

February 2023
Volume 23, Number 2

From the CIO

Robert Osmond, Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth
CIO Robert Osmond

February is here already. We’ve shaken off the holidays and are moving full steam ahead under the power of agility and teamwork, two of the critical components of success for us at VITA and in the Commonwealth. 

As we continue our smart growth journey, I would like to share some terrific team wins and some CIO thoughts. Without teamwork, we couldn’t accomplish anything. Just in January, we’ve coordinated with other agencies for some high-profile efforts. For example:

  • We partnered with Virginia’s Office of Data Governance and Analytics for “Data Privacy Week,” focusing on the importance of online privacy and the steps individuals and organizations can take to keep their information safe.
  • We are partnering with many agencies to scale our software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) initiative. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services were part of the successful pilot program for SD-WAN.
  • We partnered with our suppliers (SAIC, AISN, NTT) to create a new enterprise automation for new employee Commonwealth of Virginia (COV) mail accounts. A process that previously took over 11 days is now reaching completion in around 53 minutes.
  • We are partnering with many agencies to improve our cyber services. We are launching a new statewide cybersecurity education program and improving cybersecurity dashboards.
  • We partnered with the Chief Transformation Officer to launch a first-of-its-kind statewide transformation management system.
  • We are partnering with Virginia's Department of Human Resource Management and Virginia' s Department of General Services on a new workflow to streamline the telework approval process.
  • We are partnering with many agencies daily to establish new and better information technology (IT) state contracts.
  • We are partnering with each other (including our vendors and suppliers) to work as a team and deliver better, faster and more responsive services to our customers. 
  • I am especially excited about our new VITA Associates program, which was created to channel new talent into our organization, as well as our staff development programs (the Leadership Development Program, Business Relationship Management Program and, coming soon, Crucial Conversation Training). 

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the SAIC Outfront event on Jan. 25, where I talked about the importance of adopting an “agile mindset.” To paraphrase the message I shared there – it's all about getting smart people together to understand the dimensions of an issue, recognizing what’s in and out of scope, adapting to the things that are out of scope and modifying our offerings to accommodate them. We need to remind ourselves to focus on the outcomes and results and not allow ourselves to get distracted by the noise. 

I am so proud of each and every one of you. As we continue to agilely adapt, I know that we will all be better able to take care of what’s most important – the residents of Virginia, enabling the services they need to live and thrive. 

As always, thank you for all that you do for us and the Commonwealth! 

Sincerely,  

Robert Osmond, Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth

Software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) roll-out update

One of VITA’s major initiatives for 2023 is the roll-out of SD-WAN. With a goal of enhancing network connectivity and improving network capacity across the enterprise by 1,000%, SD-WAN capability will be deployed to 1,190 Commonwealth sites this year. This will ensure that executive branch agencies have the tools and resources needed to best serve customers in Virginia.

“This install provides the framework for adding commercial broadband circuits with secure cloud access, allowing secure routing to cloud-based services and back to our data centers,” said Tom White, who is serving as VITA’s program manager for the SD-WAN roll-out. 

A pilot program successfully installed and tested SD-WAN at VITA and five other agencies, including the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). “VDH has been working for over nine months on Broadband upgrades for about 170 sites and is very excited by VITA’s rollout of SD-WAN, as it is a key dependency for our broadband upgrades. Sites that have finished the SD-WAN upgrades have noted the smooth and quick virtual installation process. To best accommodate our sites' business needs, the SD-WAN team has been navigating scheduling challenges through daily stand-up meetings,” said VDH's IT Division Operations Officer Melissa Moore.

Working with agencies, VITA and its partners, Verizon and Atos, are scheduling the remaining sites to complete this year. White adds that the SD-WAN team will be reaching out shortly to agency information technology resource (AITR) representatives to schedule the effort. “The planned velocity (number of sites completed) for March through June will be 220 sites per month. The project is targeting a June completion of SD-WAN upgrades followed by additional broadband circuit connections to increase network capacity for the agencies across the state.” 

Website modernization program update

The Commonwealth of Virginia (COV) website modernization program was created to ensure all state websites provide an accessible, trusted and secure experience for all Virginians. Specifically, the program looks to aid agencies in meeting COV web standards.  

VITA is developing and testing an updated banner, similar to what can currently be found at https://www.developer.virginia.gov/downloads/commonwealth-banner/Implementation of the banner is required for all main and sub-web pages. 

VITA is also developing a design system that includes style guides, templates and a consistent color palette. Use of the design system is optional but recommended, especially for agencies that have not updated their websites recently. 

The Website Modernization Project Management Office (Web Mod PMO) team is coordinating more in-depth discussions with agencies through their customer account managers (CAMs) or directly for agencies without an assigned VITA CAM. The team will ensure remediation progress is tracked and reported.   

ICYMI: VITA and the Virginia Office of Data Governance and Analytics teamed up for Data Privacy Week

In case you missed it: VITA and the Virginia Office of Data Governance and Analytics (ODGA) teamed up to share important messaging for Data Privacy Week in Virginia, which ran from Jan. 22 – 28, encouraging individuals and organizations in the Commonwealth to take the opportunity to learn about online privacy and take the steps needed to keep their information safe.

The effort included four national and regional media interviews, weeklong social media messaging (over 14,000 impressions gained from our social media audiences!) and videos. 

Virginia finalists named for 2023 MS-ISAC Kids Safe Online poster contest

Congratulations to all our Virginia finalists in the 2023 MS-ISAC Kids Safe Online poster contest! All the finalists’ entries have now been submitted for consideration in the national contest. 

The goal for the poster contest is to engage young people to actively use cybersecurity knowledge, creating posters to encourage their peers to use the internet safely and securely. The competition also gives teachers in classrooms across Virginia a chance to address and reinforce cybersecurity themes and online safety issues.   

All students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 were eligible to participate. Stay tuned to learn if any of the Virginia finalists earn any national recognition!

CyberStart America competition: open to students in grades 9-12 in Virginia

If you haven’t registered your student for the 2022-2023 CyberStart America competition, there’s still time to sign up! 

Virginia students in grades 9 through 12 can access CyberStart, a free, immersive cybersecurity training game. By playing the game, students can learn more about cybersecurity and build skills that could prepare them for a career in technology. They may also qualify for cyber training scholarships worth over $3,000.

Students can play CyberStart until Tuesday, April 4. Students earning a high score in CyberStart will then be invited to apply for a scholarship. Scholarship winners will be announced in early May. 

Commonwealth Agency Agile Conference to be held on Feb. 24: registration is now open  

The Commonwealth Agency Agile Conference (CAAC) is a triannual meeting of Virginia agencies’ staff and leadership interested in exploring and sharing the various Agile methodologies in use throughout the Commonwealth. 

The ninth conference will be hosted via Microsoft Teams and is scheduled for Feb. 24 from 9 a.m. – noon. The topic will be “Flavors of Agile in the Commonwealth," and presenters from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and the Virginia State Police will discuss their scrum and scrumban practices, including why they chose the methodology, as well as challenges and benefits.  

Anyone associated with Commonwealth agencies can attend, and registration is now open.  

Information security tips

It would be helpful if content from threat actors came with a flashing red flag. The bad news is, phishing attempts are better crafted than we'd like to believe.

Cyber threat actors are well versed in manipulation and well-crafted techniques to fool unsuspecting users. When a user falls for a phishing message, the attacker achieves their goal.  

Phishing messages can appear in a variety of formats to collect personal information, steal account credentials or install malware on a user’s device. In this month’s information security tips, take a look at some examples that highlight how to identify messages as phishing attempts and hopefully thwart this pathway for cybercriminals. 

Read information security tips.