SSA launches eVital in Colorado

The Social Security Administration today initiated an application that will give immediate online verification of birth and death information directly from state agencies.The eVital project, one of the Office of Management and Budget's 24 Quicksilver e-government initiatives, went live in Colorado and will expand to seven more states in the coming weeks.Through eVital, SSA expects to speed processing benefits and Social Security number requests. “The eVital initiative has tremendous potential to help us improve the service we provide to the American people," said James B. Lockhart III, deputy commissioner of Social Security. “We want to use the latest and most innovative technology to make it easier for the public to access Social Security's services, while at the same time saving taxpayer dollars.”Citizens must now provide documentation of birth or death information to be issued a Social Security number or receive benefits. Without the appropriate documents, people must contact their state bureau of vital statistics for copies. EVital would put states’ data online for SSA to access.“EVital will save time, energy and money as it makes the required government interactions faster, more secure and efficient for the citizen,” said Mark Forman, OMB's associate director for IT and e-government. “That's what e-government is all about.”