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

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

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

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

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! 5

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

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

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

9. Veteran Population 9 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 10 http://www.va.gov/vetdata/Veteran_Population.asp Mouse-over Map With State Statistics In Excel – Do With Spotfire! Lots of Excel Tables!

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

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

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

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

15. Surveys 15 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. 16

17. 1. Build an table of contents-like index of the complex document with well-defined web addresses in MindTouch 17 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 18 http://semanticommunity.info/@api/deki/files/16414/=VeteransBenefits.xlsx

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

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) 20 http://semanticommunity.info/A_Search_For_Veterans_Benefits/eBenefits_FAQs 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

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

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

23. 6. Maintain/update that content with a dynamic case management tool like Be Informed, FacetApp, etc. 23 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. 24