WASHINGTON – Supporting President Obama’s pledge to make transparency and openness the pillars of good government, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has updated its “Open Government Plan,” reaffirming VA’s commitment to become a leader among federal agencies at applying these principles to achieve its mission of serving veterans.
“Open government, at its core, is about ensuring citizens’ access to public information and enabling better engagement and advocacy on behalf of our Veterans,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “This plan helps us drive transparency, participation and collaboration with our stakeholders – essential to our mission to transform VA into a Veteran-centric, results-oriented, and forward-looking organization.”
VA is in the midst of a broad transformation, and the initiatives laid out in the Open Government plan offer a roadmap to accelerate that positive change. The plan is available on the Internet at www.va.gov/open.
The plan leverages technologies ranging from electronic claims processing to popular social media like Facebook and Twitter in order to enhance services VA provides to Veterans. It also reports on the progress VA has made with its highly successful Innovation Initiative, now in its third phase.
“VA is committed to being open and collaborative about the needs the Department faces today,” Shinseki said.
“Veteran advocacy and greater visibility are essential pillars to successful long-term improvements,” Peter Levin, VA chief technology officer, said. “Cultural change, better business processes, and technology initiatives like openly architected, standards-based tools will dramatically improve quality and access to our Nation’s heroes and their families, and provide a venue for better collaboration with citizens.”
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Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
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