VA's Roger Baker gives an iPad a test run
CIO Roger Baker is one of more than 100 VA employees trying out iPads and iPhones on VA networks.
More than 100 employees at the Veterans Affairs Department, mostly clinicians, have been testing iPads and iPhones on VA networks in several pilot projects in recent weeks — and CIO Roger Baker is one of them.
“I made myself part of the pilot projects,” Baker told reporters Aug. 30. The iPad he's testing is “very nice. I traded my laptop for it,” he said.
Baker said he is accessing e-mail messages and VA’s networks on the iPad, and he made sure it was secure first before loading his work and personal applications onto it.
“It is my entire records management system,” he said. “It is all encrypted and double password protected. I would not be fine with losing it.”
The VA is on track to meet a self-imposed Oct. 1 deadline to allow iPhones and iPads on its networks, Baker said in a conference call.
The VA is still considering an acquisition strategy for iPads for use mainly for clinicians and administrative staff. For now, allowing employees to access VA networks with their own personal iPads is “still under research,” Baker said.