Double the COVITS, double the fun
Nearly 1,050 innovative leaders attended the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium (COVITS) Sept. 16-17. VITA partnered with GovTech to host this year’s two-day event, which welcomed the most attendees ever in its 28-year history. A sold-out crowd of public sector technology professionals from across the Commonwealth gathered in Richmond to learn, network and celebrate successes.
The event included general sessions led by key speakers, numerous concurrent breakout sessions on a variety of topics and a ceremony celebrating the winners of the 2025 Commonwealth Technology Awards.
General session key speakers
- Commonwealth of Virginia Secretary of Administration Lyn McDermid officially kicked off the event by recognizing CIO Bob Osmond for receiving Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers award.
- Commonwealth CIO Bob Osmond highlighted VITA’s accomplishment culture by offering examples of how the agency has enabled progress, improved technology and enhanced lives throughout Virginia.
- Keynote speaker and Vaillance Group Founder/CEO Shawnee Delaney provided an insider look at the real and present dangers of cyber threats. Delaney reminded the audience that we must all be diligent in our daily efforts to prevent attacks as humans are, by nature, susceptible to coercion.
- Virginia DMV Commissioner Dr. Gerald Lackey highlighted innovations at DMV, such as the custom-built automated road test system, biometric authentication and mobile IDs. He reminded professionals that digital transformation is still rooted in people, and all solutions should lead to an enhanced customer experience.
- Center for Digital Government Senior Fellow Barry Condrey gave an informative presentation about AI, during which he stressed the importance of making public information consumable by both humans and AI.
- Keynote speaker, Futurist and Hope Engineer Nik Badminton invited guests to think like him, a futurist and hope engineer, by not predicting, but by creating space for explore what the future can be. He challenged COVITS attendees to shift their mindset from what is to what if.
- Deputy Chief Data Officer for VITA’s Office of Data Governance and Analytics, Marcus Thornton, provided an information session about how the Commonwealth is collecting and using data to empower state agencies and local governments to improve citizen-focused services.
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advisor John Harrison stressed the importance of not skipping cybersecurity basics, like creating an inventory of people, data, systems and hardware. Harrison bluntly stated, “If you don’t know you have it, you can’t protect it.”
Concurrent breakout sessions
Numerous additional leaders gave presentations and sat on panels, imparting knowledge that will empower state agencies and local governments to improve citizen-focused services. These sessions throughout the conference provided an in-depth look at topics such as:
- Data-driven decision making
- Building a strong public sector pipeline
- Shadow IT
- The costs of innovation
- Change management
- Cross-agency collaboration
- Digital accessibility
- Human-centered design
- Low-code platforms
- Virginia cloud evolution
Commonwealth Technology Awards
COVITS also included a celebration of state and local teams whose collaborative efforts and innovative solutions have enhanced efficiency, security and service to Virginians. This year, judges selected 15 winning projects for Commonwealth Technology Awards. Learn more about these impactful initiatives by visiting the Commonwealth Technology Awards recap article on VITA’s website.
In the end, COVITS delivered on its promises: more than 1,000 technology leaders had the chance to connect with colleagues, deepen their tech knowledge and get energized. COVITS made it clear that public sector professionals are adopting—and will continue to adopt—innovations that make government more transparent, accessible and efficient.