‘As-a-Service’ IT Delivery Models Driving Modernization

Joseph C. Jeter, Jr. is a seasoned executive specializing in technology strategy development, process improvement, and operational execution for global technology companies and government agencies. Mr. Jeter’s IT enterprise systems acumen emanates from his early years as a systems engineer at Verizon, where he advanced into large-scale IT strategy and systems delivery with domestic and international impact. Mr. Jeter is adept at identifying and adopting emerging technologies that can deliver business value and mission acceleration. Through his work in business turnaround and strategic growth, he has had a multi-billion-dollar revenue impact on businesses where he has served. With an eye to new horizons, Mr. Jeter has raised over $20M in funding to fuel the growth of several early-stage technology companies in the 5G telecommunications and artificial intelligence space, including Groopview and 5×5 Technologies.

Mr. Jeter has worked and managed IT and Telecom operations for businesses and governments in the USA and over 40 countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, Philippines, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan.

Ms. Carrie A. Lee is the Deputy Chief Information Officer for VA’s Product Engineering Service (PES) organization within the Office of Information and Technology (OIT). Product Engineering Service builds products that deliver unparalleled value to Veterans and those who care for them by leveraging emerging technology, methodologies, and trends including Software as a Service (SaaS), Low-Code Application Platforms (LCAP), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Data Management and Analytic Platforms, and Veteran Facing digital services.

Under Ms. Lee’s leadership, Product Engineering Service combines the best aspects of focused, process-driven IT organizations with the leading practices of innovative development organizations to deliver products with a clear value proposition and the ability to meet customer needs, do it reliably, and in less time than any other organization.

Ms. Lee joined the VA in Jan 2019 as part of the Office of Information Security (OIS). In this role, she established VA’s cloud security and FedRAMP authorization program. Her team developed cloud security authorization policies, procedures, and guidelines in alignment with FedRAMP requirements. In addition, she developed VA’s Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 program and led the development of VA’s first TIC 3.0 use cases which facilitated the ability for VA users to connect directly to Microsoft365 to support remote work capabilities during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In September 2020, Ms. Lee joined the Product Engineering team as the Senior Technical Advisor. She served as the Acting Executive Director from Jan to Aug of 2022. During this time, PES has continued to uphold its mission and provide exceptional outcomes for Veterans. She has prioritized hiring efforts and internal promotion opportunities, growing the team exponentially and bringing in exceptional information technology talent. Ms. Lee led PES to successfully establish the Summit Data Platform, creating a modern, resilient data platform for enterprise use supporting multiple Data and Analytics capabilities. She also led the team to deliver the first Continuous Authorization to Operate (C-ATO) in the VA in the Lighthouse Delivery Infrastructure, creating a secure development pipeline, and allowing teams to deploy new products in weeks instead of months. Ms. Lee led the expansion of the VA Health Connect program, VA’s first nationwide clinical contact center that serves over 9 million Veterans and over 30,000 clinical cases a month. In FY22, the team also delivered 210 low-code/no-code products, a 163% increase from FY20.