An iPad pilot program is underway at the Veterans Affairs Department said VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker, while speaking at a May 4 event in Washington, D.C. sponsored by TechAmerica. Among the first users of the technology, at least in an agency-sanctioned capacity, is Deputy Secretary Scott Gould. 

Finding a balance between providing security and offering the technology employees desire is difficult, said Baker, who has briefed iPad pilot participants on the device's information security capabilities and device limitations.

"I've told my folks I don't want to say 'no' to those devices anymore," Baker said. "I want to know how I say 'yes.'"

At the event Baker said he once routinely loaded work-related documents on his Kindle so he could read them on his commute...until an information security officer took it from him, that is. "It's a huge unencrypted USB stick and it has no password," said the official.

With the iPad pilot, VA hopes to better prepare for an influx of mobile devices, as VA hospital residents and doctors continue to demand technology that helps them do their job better, said Baker. 

Doctors already are "carrying a mobile device and they know where all those great Internet websites are that would help them do their jobs better if only that dumb CIO back in Washington wouldn't insist on crazy rules like veterans' information must be encrypted," Baker added.

Related Articles: 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission may adopt a bring-your-own-device mobile strategy
USAID waives FISMA for iPads 
Cellular data network signals penetrate White House  
Mobile interoperability is imperative for military