The Department of Veterans Affairs is launching a VA Center for Innovation (VACI), to build on its VA Innovation Initiative, which established 120 innovation projects helping to test, identify and evaluate solutions to improve accessibility and care quality.
The earlier initiative will be synonymous with the VACI, through which the department said it would continue to tap talent from government, industry and the entrepreneurial community while adding several new programs expanding the VA’s capacity to embrace innovate ideas and address challenges.
VACI has launched a site (www.innovation.va.gov), released its first annual report, and announced 13 new awards from its industry innovation competition.
Competition winners include MIT for a new adjustable prosthetic socket technology, and Agilex Technologies of Chantilly, Va., which developed technology, allowing patients to view and share their VA health data using on smart phones.
The department said the center is part of a wider effort to instill innovation into the agency culture as a core competency and ongoing practice.
"By knitting together innovative talent and 21st century solutions into a vital ecosystem, we ensure that VA meets the evolving needs of current and future veterans with energy and imagination," said director of VACI Jonah Czerwinski.
