| Category |
Recommended Score |
Underlying Rationale |
| High-Value Data |
Meets Expectations |
SSA published 14 new, high-value data sets in an open machine-readable format in January of 2010 in accordance with the Open Government Directive. We selected these data sets because they improved SSA’s transparency, public knowledge of the agency, its mission, and its operations. They also respond to public requests for information. We are highlighting three of the 14 below:
- Hearing Office Average Processing Time Ranking Report. This data meets the definition of “high-value” defined by the Directive as it will further our core mission and improve the transparency of our agency by permitting people to understand and estimate the amount of time they may have to wait for a decision on their hearing request. This data will also improve public knowledge of the agency and its operations.
- Hearing Office Workload Data. This data meets the definition of “high-value” defined by the Directive because it makes readily available information by hearing offices across the nation so that the public and interest groups have more information about our service levels. They can see information about the hearings workloads in their local offices including receipts and dispositions.
- ALJ Disposition Data. This data meets the definition of “high-value” defined by the Directive as it responds to identified public need and demand. The ALJ Disposition Data has been requested previously through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The data set consists of a listing of hearings completion data by name of individual administrative law judges (ALJ) for all ALJs in Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. The data includes hearing office name, total dispositions, decisions, allowances, denials and fully favorable or partially favorable decisions. In the spirit of Open Government and Transparency, this data increases agency accountability and responsiveness
|
| Data Integrity |
Meets Expectations |
On January 21, 2010, SSA named Ron Raborg, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Quality Performance, to be accountable for the quality and objectivity of, and internal controls over, the Federal spending information publicly disseminated through such public venues as USAspending.gov or other similar websites. |
| Open Government Webpage |
Meets Expectations |
By February 6, 2010, SSA launched its Open Government Webpage at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/open/. In line with the Directive, the SSA Open Government Webpage serves as a portal to our activities related to the Open Government Directive. On our Open Government Webpage, the public can download our high-value data sets, learn about new opportunities to participate in our online policy forum, and share their ideas for how SSA can be more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. Of course, our annual FOIA report is there too, in an open format. |
| Public Consultation |
Meets Expectations |
SSA is seeking input on our Open Government Plan, on the information we should prioritize for publication, and on the quality of the information we publish at www.opensocialsecurity.ideascale.com. This brainstorming tool allows the public to suggest a new idea or to vote and comment on others’. To ensure extensive employee engagement, the Chief Information Officer has sent out an email to all employees, encouraging them to share their ideas. To ensure we capture and respond to all of these good ideas, our Open Government leadership team will summarize the input, inviting further comment to flesh out the most promising ideas for our Open Government Plan. |
