SSA creates panel to guide systems' future

The Social Security Administration will have an advisory panel analyze the agency’s information technology environment and recommend future systems enhancements, SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, said May 1. Recommendations from the Future Systems Technology Advisory Panel will be a road map for the agency in determining what future systems and technologies it may need to develop in online applications, customer service or any other areas. SSA in a notice in the Federal Register. SSA is planning to modernize its information systems platform and move away from outdated technology so it can automate more processes, the agency said. The advisory panel will be comprised of up to 12 members from higher education institutions, experts in the needs of SSA’s beneficiaries, people familiar with the agency’s policies and systems, and industry representatives familiar with computer technology used in customer service, health care, privacy, finance and document management, SSA said. The panel will go out of existence after two years unless SSA renews it.