VA’s top product developer heading to Census Bureau
David Peters, the acting head of software development at the Department of Veterans Affairs, is leaving the agency later this month to become chief of the Application Services Division at the Census Bureau.
In an email obtained by FedScoop, Peters told staff members that his last day at VA will be April 28 and that planning for the delegation of his current duties is underway. Peters currently serves as VA’s acting deputy CIO for product development in VA’s Office of Information and Technology. The Application Services Division at Census, which is part of the Department of Commerce, reports to CIO Brian McGrath.
“I continue to marvel at what we are able to achieve every day and how effective we are at serving our veterans and our country,” Peters wrote. “Many of you know that software development is my passion. While this new position will give me an opportunity to work exclusively in software development, the decision to leave VA was still a difficult one.”
David Peters, acting deputy CIO for product development at VA, is leaving the agency to become the chief of the Application Service Division at the Census Bureau.
Since 2011, Peters has been responsible for leading the VA’s main product development office — an organization with approximately 1,000 staff members and nearly $1 billion in budget authority. As the acting deputy CIO, Peters has been a key figure in a range of initiatives, spanning acquisitions, budgeting, governance, process improvement, workforce management, software architecture, resource management, agile development, open source and mobile development.
Peters took over VA’s Product Development division when Lorraine Landfried resigned last July.
During his tenure at VA, Peters has been credited with making key contributions to several applications that have helped improve health care delivery to veterans. Among those accomplishments was a series of iPad apps to help veterans access and share health information with clinicians. He’s also credited with development of the Veteran Appointment Request program, which enables vets to make online and mobile appointments, as well as the Mobile Health Clinician Program, which provided mobile access to patient information.
