A Search for Veterans Benefits

1. A Search for Veterans Benefits Brand Niemann Director and Senior Enterprise Architect – Data Scientist Semantic Community December 22, 2011 http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefit

2. A Search for Veterans Benefits Fairly Obvious https://www.google.com/search?aq=f&gcx=c&ix=c2&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Veterans+Benefits

3. Department of Veteran Affairs: Veteran Benefits Personal Dashboard – Gateway to Benefit Information Same as Flash Number 2 http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/

4. Veterans eBenefits Portal Overwhelmed with this complexity! Do NCVAS First and Then Come Back To This That Proved Insightful! https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits-portal/ebenefits.portal

5. Two Many Choices • Department of Veteran Affairs: • eBenefits – My Gateway to Benefit Information • Benefits Newsletter • Announcements - e.g. Traumatic Injury Benefits • Resources - e.g. Quick Benefit Summaries • Compensation and Pension - e.g. Survivor’s Benefits • Home Loans - e.g. Home for Sale • Vocational Rehabilitation - e.g. Jobs • Life Insurance - e.g. Traumatic Life Insurance • Veterans eBenefits Portal: • Apply, View, Access, and Browse • Filter: State, Topics, Recipients with over 1000 subtopics!

6. National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics Click on To Get Next Slide Supports planning, analysis, and decision-making activities through the collection, validation, analysis, and dissemination of key statistics on Veteran population and VA programs Welcome Plus Six Areas in Next Slides http://www.va.gov/vetdata/

7. Welcome to NCVAS Single PDF http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/quickfacts/Homepage-slideshow.pdf

8. Welcome to NCVAS Individual Slides with Well-defined URLs http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits#Quick_Facts_3_VA_Benefits_and_Health_Care_Utilization

9. Veteran Population Individual Slides with Well-defined URLs http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits#Quick_Facts_5_Deaths_for_Selected_Periods_of_Service

10. Veteran Population Mouse-over Map With State Statistics In Excel – Do With Spotfire! Lots of Excel Tables! http://www.va.gov/vetdata/Veteran_Population.asp

11. Expenditures Excel Tables Metadata http://www.va.gov/vetdata/Expenditures.asp

12. Utilization Individual Slides with Well-defined URLs http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits#Quick_Facts_4_Service-Connected_Disability

13. Reports Scatterplot of This? Individual Slides with Well-defined URLs http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits#Quick_Facts_5_Labor_Force_Participation_Rates_For_18_to_64_Years_Old_for_2009

14. Maps Individual Slides with Well-defined URLs http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits#Quick_Facts_2_Population_by_Congressional_District_for_Fiscal_Year_2010

15. Surveys Individual Slides with Well-defined URLs http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits#Quick_Facts_4_Key_Findings_-_Reasons_for_Not_Appying_or_Using_Benfits

16. Spotfire Dashboard • 1. Build an table of contents-like index of the complex document with well-defined web addresses in MindTouch. • 2. Build that index in an Excel spreadsheet so it supports faceted search in a Spotfire dashboard. • 3. Build a Spotfire knowledgebase with that Excel spreadsheet. • 4. Build multiple knowledgebases in a Spotfire dashboard so they can be seen, compared, merged, harmonized, sorted, searched, downloaded, and shared on mobile devices (e.g. iPad). • 5. Scale the previous architectural pattern with more content volume and types if necessary. • 6. Maintain/update that content with a dynamic case management tool like Be Informed, FacetApp, etc.

17. 1. Build an table of contents-like index of the complex document with well-defined web addresses in MindTouch http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits

18. 2. Build that index in an Excel spreadsheet so it supports faceted search in a Spotfire dashboard http://semanticommunity.info/@api/deki/files/16414/=VeteransBenefits.xlsx

19. 3. Build a Spotfire knowledgebasewith that Excel spreadsheet Use: VA’s GDX_FY10_V1_41.xlsx Spotfire’s US States Boundary Files To Make: VA Expenditures by State Map Select a State See Its Data In Table Below Mouse Over Each State To See 11 Parameters Select a Horizontal Row in Table and See It Displayed In Details-On-Demand Vertically PC Desktop Spotfire

20. 4. Build multiple knowledgebases in a Spotfire dashboard so they can be seen, compared, merged, harmonized, sorted, searched, downloaded, and shared on mobile devices (e.g. iPad) Tabs: Cover Page (MindTouch) VA Home Page VA Site Map eBenefits Portal FAQs Reports Quick Maps 5 Data Sets-Population (27) & Other (12) in Excel http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits/eBenefits_FAQs

21. 5. Scale the previous architectural pattern with more content volume and types if necessary Spotfire Web Player

22. 6. Maintain/update that content with a dynamic case management tool like Be Informed, FacetApp, etc. http://semanticommunity.info/Be_Informed_4

23. 6. Maintain/update that content with a dynamic case management tool like Be Informed, FacetApp, etc. http://www.facetapp.com/

24. Acknowledgements • Thanks to the Veterans Benefits Administration for the help in completing this work. • Thanks to Brendon Gibson for help with Spotfire 4. • Thanks to Robert Kruse for information on FacetApp. • Thanks to Mills Davis and Menno Gulpers for information on Be Informed 4.