An Autoethnographic Account of Innovation at the US Department of Veterans Affairs

The history of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health information technology (HIT) has been characterized by both enormous successes and catastrophic failures. While the VA was once hailed as the way to the future of twenty-first-century health care, many programs have been mismanaged, delayed, or flawed, resulting in the waste of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. Since 2015 the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has designated HIT at the VA as being susceptible to waste, fraud, and mismanagement. The timely central research question I ask in this study is, can healthcare IT at the VA be healed? To address this question, I investigate a HIT case study at the VA Center of Innovation (VACI), originally designed to be the flagship initiative of the open government transformation at the VA. The Open Source Electronic Health Record Alliance (OSEHRA) was designed to promote the open innovation ecosystem public-private-academic partnership. Based on my fifteen years of experience at the VA, I use an autoethnographic methodology to make a significant value-added contribution to understanding and modeling the VA’s approach to innovation. I use several theoretical information system framework models including People, Process, and Technology (PPT), Technology, Organization and Environment (TOE), and Technology Adaptive Model (TAM) and propose a new adaptive theory to understand the inability of VA HIT to innovate. From the perspective of people and culture, I study retaliation against whistleblowers, organization behavioral integrity, and lack of transparency in communications. I examine the VA processes, including the different software development methodologies used, the development and operations process (DevOps) of an open-source application developed at VACI, the Radiology Protocol Tool Recorder (RAPTOR), a Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) radiology workflow module. I find that the VA has chosen to migrate away from inhouse application software and buy commercial software. The impact of these People, Process, and Technology findings are representative of larger systemic failings and are appropriate examples to illustrate systemic issues associated with IT innovation at the VA. This autoethnographic account builds on first-hand project experience and literature-based insights

Constraining the bright-end of the UV luminosity function for z 7-9 galaxies: results from CANDELS/GOODS-South

The recent Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared imaging with the Wide-Field Camera #3 (WFC 3) of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey South (GOODS-S) field in the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) programme covering nearly 100 arcmin2, along with already existing Advanced Camera for Surveys optical data, makes possible the search for bright galaxy candidates at redshift z ≈ 7–9 using the Lyman break technique. We present the first analysis of z′-drop z ≈ 7 candidate galaxies in this area, finding 19 objects. We also analyse Y-drops at z ≈ 8, trebling the number of bright (HAB < 27 mag) Y-drops from our previous work, and compare our results with those of other groups based on the same data. The bright high-redshift galaxy candidates we find serve to better constrain the bright end of the luminosity function at those redshift, and may also be more amenable to spectroscopic confirmation than the fainter ones presented in various previous work on the smaller fields (the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and the WFC 3 Early Release Science observations). We also look at the agreement with previous luminosity functions derived from WFC 3 drop-out counts, finding a generally good agreement, except for the luminosity function of Yan et al. at z ≈ 8, which is strongly ruled out

On the Continuous Formation of Field Spheroidal Galaxies in Hierarchical Models of Structure Formation

We re-examine the assembly history of field spheroidals as a potentially powerful discriminant of galaxy formation models. Whereas monolithic collapse and hierarchical, merger-driven, models suggest radically different histories for these galaxies, neither the theoretical predictions nor the observational data for field galaxies have been sufficiently reliable for precise conclusions to be drawn. A major difficulty in interpreting the observations, reviewed here, concerns the taxonomic definition of spheroidals in merger-based models. Using quantitative measures of recent star formation activity drawn from the internal properties of a sample of distant field galaxies in the Hubble Deep Fields, we undertake a new analysis to assess the continuous formation of spheroidal galaxies. Whereas abundances and redshift distributions of modelled spheroidals are fairly insensitive to their formation path, we demonstrate that the distribution and amount of blue light arising from recent mergers provides a more sensitive approach. With the limited resolved data currently available, the rate of mass assembly implied by the observed colour inhomogeneities is compared to that expected in popular Lambda-dominated cold dark matter models of structure formation. These models produce as many highly inhomogeneous spheroidals as observed, but underpredict the proportion of homogeneous, passive objects. We conclude that colour inhomogeneities, particularly when combined with spectroscopic diagnostics for large, representative samples of field spheroidals, will be a more valuable test of their physical assembly history than basic source counts and redshift distributions. Securing such data should be a high priority for the Advanced Camera for Surveys on Hubble Space Telescope.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted to MNRA

WFPC2 Observations of the Hubble Deep Field-South

The Hubble Deep Field-South observations targeted a high-galactic-latitude field near QSO J2233-606. We present WFPC2 observations of the field in four wide bandpasses centered at roughly 300, 450, 606, and 814 nm. Observations, data reduction procedures, and noise properties of the final images are discussed in detail. A catalog of sources is presented, and the number counts and color distributions of the galaxies are compared to a new catalog of the HDF-N that has been constructed in an identical manner. The two fields are qualitatively similar, with the galaxy number counts for the two fields agreeing to within 20%. The HDF-S has more candidate Lyman-break galaxies at z > 2 than the HDF-N. The star-formation rate per unit volume computed from the HDF-S, based on the UV luminosity of high-redshift candidates, is a factor of 1.9 higher than from the HDF-N at z ~ 2.7, and a factor of 1.3 higher at z ~ 4.Comment: 93 pages, 25 figures; contains very long table

The Hubble Deep Field South Flanking Fields

As part of the Hubble Deep Field South program, a set of shorter 2-orbit observations were obtained of the area adjacent to the deep fields. The WFPC2 flanking fields cover a contiguous solid angle of 48 square arcminutes. Parallel observations with the STIS and NICMOS instruments produce a patchwork of additional fields with optical and near-infrared (1.6 micron) response. Deeper parallel exposures with WFPC2 and NICMOS were obtained when STIS observed the NICMOS deep field. These deeper fields are offset from the rest, and an extended low surface brightness object is visible in the deeper WFPC2 flanking field. In this data paper, which serves as an archival record of the project, we discuss the observations and data reduction, and present SExtractor source catalogs and number counts derived from the data. Number counts are broadly consistent with previous surveys from both ground and space. Among other things, these flanking field observations are useful for defining slit masks for spectroscopic follow-up over a wider area around the deep fields, for studying large-scale structure that extends beyond the deep fields, for future supernova searches, and for number counts and morphological studies, but their ultimate utility will be defined by the astronomical community.Comment: 46 pages, 15 figures. Images and full catalogs available via the HDF-S at http://www.stsci.edu/ftp/science/hdfsouth/hdfs.html at present. The paper is accepted for the February 2003 Astronomical Journal. Full versions of the catalogs will also be available on-line from AJ after publicatio

Spitzer IRS 16 micron Observations of the GOODS Fields

We present Spitzer 16 micron imaging of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) fields. We survey 150 square arcminutes in each of the two GOODS fields (North and South), to an average 3 sigma depth of 40 and 65 micro-Jy respectively. We detect about 1300 sources in both fields combined. We validate the photometry using the 3-24 micron spectral energy distribution of stars in the fields compared to Spitzer spectroscopic templates. Comparison with ISOCAM and AKARI observations in the same fields show reasonable agreement, though the uncertainties are large. We provide a catalog of photometry, with sources cross correlated with available Spitzer, Chandra, and HST data. Galaxy number counts show good agreement with previous results from ISOCAM and AKARI, with improved uncertainties. We examine the 16 to 24 micron flux ratio and find that for most sources it lies within the expected locus for starbursts and infrared luminous galaxies. A color cut of S_{16}/S_{24}>1.4 selects mostly sources which lie at 1.1<z<1.6, where the 24 micron passband contains both the redshifted 9.7 micron silicate absorption and the minimum between PAH emission peaks. We measure the integrated galaxy light of 16 micron sources, and find a lower limit on the galaxy contribution to the extragalactic background light at this wavelength to be 2.2\pm 0.2$ nW m^{-2} sr^{-1}.Comment: Accepted for Publication in the AJ. 53 preprint pages, including 15 figures and 8 tables. Table 1-4 are truncated in the ms.tex but are included in full in the tar file (and will be available in the online version of the AJ

Far-Ultraviolet Imaging of the Large Magellanic Cloud Populous Cluster NGC 1978 with WFPC2

We have imaged the ~2.2 billion-year-old Large Magellanic Cloud populous cluster NGC 1978 in the far-ultraviolet and visible with the second Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WFPC2) on the Hubble Space Telescope. The far-ultraviolet images show a sparse stellar field with little apparent density enhancement in the cluster core. The visible images are dominated by the cluster's first-ascent and second-ascent red giants, which are completely invisible to the far-ultraviolet filter. No evidence for a hot horizontal branch population of core-helium-burning stars is seen; nor is there any apparent indication of a significant blue straggler population. These results suggest that the presence of a rich, young population of field stars in the NGC 1978 region is responsible for the unusual location of the cluster in the integrated light color-color plots produced by IUE

CANDELS: The Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey - The Hubble Space Telescope Observations, Imaging Data Products and Mosaics

This paper describes the Hubble Space Telescope imaging data products and data reduction procedures for the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). This survey is designed to document the evolution of galaxies and black holes at $z\sim1.5-8$, and to study Type Ia SNe beyond $z>1.5$. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive multiwavelength observations. The primary CANDELS data consist of imaging obtained in the Wide Field Camera 3 / infrared channel (WFC3/IR) and UVIS channel, along with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The CANDELS/Deep survey covers \sim125 square arcminutes within GOODS-N and GOODS-S, while the remainder consists of the CANDELS/Wide survey, achieving a total of \sim800 square arcminutes across GOODS and three additional fields (EGS, COSMOS, and UDS). We summarize the observational aspects of the survey as motivated by the scientific goals and present a detailed description of the data reduction procedures and products from the survey. Our data reduction methods utilize the most up to date calibration files and image combination procedures. We have paid special attention to correcting a range of instrumental effects, including CTE degradation for ACS, removal of electronic bias-striping present in ACS data after SM4, and persistence effects and other artifacts in WFC3/IR. For each field, we release mosaics for individual epochs and eventual mosaics containing data from all epochs combined, to facilitate photometric variability studies and the deepest possible photometry. A more detailed overview of the science goals and observational design of the survey are presented in a companion paper.Comment: 39 pages, 25 figure

An autoethnographic account of innovation at the department of veterans affairs

What is influencing the direction of innovation at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)? I explore challenges at the VA Center of Innovation (VACI) as the US Government Accounting Office (GAO) has designated the VA at high-risk for being susceptible to waste, fraud, and mismanagement. My autoethnographic lens is applied to the VACI open source software application, the Radiology Protocol Tool Recorder (RAPTOR) that my team and I designed and developed from 2010 to 2017. RAPTOR is designed to work with the VistA Electronic Health Record (EHR), considered one of the most important open source healthcare software applications ever. The failure to launch RAPTOR is representative of these susceptibilities and an appropriate example to illustrate VA institutional issues. This poster advances a novel approach of understanding institutional culture and change, using autoethnographic methods to retrospectively analyze over ten years of experience at the VA. I propose three new research questions based on my understanding of VA innovation. The poster provides a structure to understand the major issues influencing information directions; identifies sources and determinants and categorizes attributes into organization, process, technology, and culture. My research is supplemented by the information literature, and I use a conceptual framework explaining the relationships between these factors and the direction of VA IT innovation. The proposed framework serves as a means by which government and public sector information systems managers / Chief Information Officers / Technology and business managers can conduct an introspective exercise within their organization