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US Veterans Affairs could save $150M with Less Desktop printers
The Veterans Affairs Department could save $150 million over the next five years by winnowing the number of desktop printers from 50,000 to 5,000, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said Wednesday.
VA now has approximately 300,000 employees, which works out to about one printer for every six employees.Baker wants to steer thousands more employees to use departmental printers instead of personal printers, which would not only save on hardware costs but also on toner, as ink cartridges for desktop printers cost more than those for departmental printers.
Savings generated from eliminating printers will be plowed back into the department’s information technology budget for programs and projects focused on serving veterans directly, Baker said, such as the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record program, which aims to create a unified record of administrative and health information for military members from their first day of service through veteran status and beyond.
VLER has set up an electronic benefits site that provides a range of information and offers online access to the DD214 record of military service, Baker said. This feature eliminates the requirement for veterans to obtain a copy through the National Personnel Records Center operated by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Once veterans register on the e-benefits site, they can "just go online and print out their DD214," Baker said. In order to so, and to access other features of the site, veterans must have a log-in number provided through the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System for active-duty and retired military personnel, according to the How to Register section of the site.
Baker also indicated that VA and Defense are close to selecting a director and deputy director of the Integrated Program Office, which will oversee development of a joint electronic health record for the two departments. Applications for those two Senior Executive Service jobs closed earlier this month, with the two departments now vetting candidates. Baker said he expects the positions filled by year’s end.
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