Many Los Angeles residents, and Americans in general, would probably agree that “efficiency” is not exactly the first word that comes to mind when describing the federal government. Some of our readers have had contact with the federal government by applying for Social Security Disability benefits. That process can be long and full of back-and-forth between the applicant and the Social Security Administration regarding documentation of the medical condition. However, the SSA, as part of the federal government, is included in an initiative to make government processes faster: the Digital Government Strategy.
The SSA’s website describes this initiative as a directive from the White House for government agencies to increase the use of technology in order to decrease costs and provide more effective services to Americans. In large part, this process is focused on improving information technology in an attempt to make government services more readily available to those who need them.
Another large part of this initiative is for government agencies to assess their current functions in order to identify where improvements can be made. The SSA has already completed many of these assessments, and is well on its way to implementing recommendations that should lead to improved services.
There probably aren’t many Los Angeles residents who would argue with attempts to improve government efficiency, especially if the result is a more streamlined evaluation process for those individuals applying for Social Security Disability benefits. Our readers can probably expect to hear more SSA news regarding this initiative as services are improved over the course of the next several years.
Source: SSA.gov, “Digital Government Strategy,” Accessed May 17, 2015
