FDA CIO calls for fresh ideas and proposals that can drive down costs and align with new IT Strategy

On the heels of releasing its comprehensive Information Technology Strategy for Fiscal Years 2024 to 2027, the FDA Office of Digital Transformation Senior Leadership Team, led by CIO Vid Desai, was out in full force at this week’s sold-out GovTech Connects FedFocus series event.   

One thing that Desai made quite clear is that there will be no more “business as usual.” Those firms that can bring innovative ideas that drive down costs and align with FDA’s IT vision will be heard. 

• FDA published the TMAP to emphasize the modernization journey and the move to the cloud 
• FDA published the DMAP to emphasize that FDA will be taking a more data-centric approach  
• FDA published the EMAP to encourage the thinking that these activities can happen at the enterprise level.  

Said Desai, “When you provide proposals, give us a proposal that modernizes an environment and that takes into consideration these priorities that we have laid out.” For example: “Help us figure out how to move a legacy application that is on-prem and move it into the cloud, while improving the data, improving the cybersecurity and making it function in a holistic enterprise manner.” 

Yes, the agency continues to have a lot of areas that function in a legacy manner and yes, you will continue to see tasks and contracts released to support these functions, but Desai said, “Do you have a better way? Give me a call. Tell me that you have a better way, a transformative way to reduce O&M. If you can show me that you can drastically reduce my O&M costs from what they are now, I will make time to come talk to you. Business as usual is frankly a waste of your time and our time. These are the type of proposals we want to receive – transformative proposals that align with our IT strategy.”  

Desai, who joined FDA as the CTO in 2019 and took over the CIO role in early 2021, is not your run-of-the-mill Federal CIO. This global Information Technology and Transformation executive brought with him a diverse Healthcare and regulatory industry experience gained over more than two decades and ranges from Pharmaceuticals, Clinical Research Organizations to Medical Device manufacturing. His fresh perspective, approach and ideas are changing the culture at FDA.  

Our take – If you are a forward-thinking solution provider who would like to support FDA, or an existing FDA IT partner, there may never be a better time than now to invest in getting to know this agency and to bring fresh ideas and approaches. ODT is ready to answer your call.  

If you missed the event, do note that FDA is hosting a Digital Transformation Symposium this December to discuss the newly released IT Strategy. Details Here.

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