The hottest ticket in town — by far — is Input’s breakfast on Thursday, Oct. 8 featuring Roger Baker, the CIO at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The event has more than 425 people registered already, Input insiders tell me — and we are still a few weeks out.

Yes, VA is the second largest federal agency — and it has had a history of having troubled IT systems. But, as you probably heard, Baker has just a few high profile issues on his agenda:

* The scathing IG reports: Everybody is still buzzing about the VA IG reports that came out earlier this year — and there was a congressional hearing earlier this week. Frankly, I don’t expect Baker to address these much — other then some well crafted joke about how he can’t address it. We’re hearing a lot of talk about this issue — still. (The DorobekInsider has asked many insiders for their thoughts.)

* Update on programs put on hold… Earlier this year, Baker took the somewhat unusual step of putting 45 IT programs on hold pending review. (Baker on was Federal News Radio’s In Depth program talking about it. Hear that here.) What’s the status of those… and how much of a role did the Federal IT Dashboard really play in making that decision?

* VA’s Innovation competition… In asking employees for their best ideas, the VA has come up with a few of its own. An internal competition for innovation is seen as a benchmark process ready to spread far beyond the agency’s firewalls and across the federal landscape.

It should be an interesting presentation, regardless.

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