Use of Information Technology by VA's Department of Veterans Benefits

GAO discussed the Veterans Administration's (VA) Department of Veterans Benefits (DVB) efforts to improve management of its information resources. GAO found that VA: (1) plans to earmark $101 million out of about $480 million in fiscal year 1988 funds obligated for information technology; (2) designated its Administrator as the authority for all matters relating to control and oversight of information resources; (3) completed the first 2 points of its 12-point modernization plan in defining goals and objectives and identifying constraints; (4) plans to implement 13 interim, short-term projects to meet critical DVB needs during modernization; (5) completed cost-benefit, requirements, and needs analyses, which delineated the need for the interim projects; and (6) estimated the projects would cost $52 million and provide an estimated $83 million in benefits from personnel reduction and $128 million in secondary benefits from improved information handling.