[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 144 (Friday, July 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41161-41162]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16224]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

[OMB Control No. 2900-0876]


Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: 
Clearance for A-11 Section 280 Improving Customer Experience 
Information Collection

AGENCY: Veterans Experience Office, Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
this notice announces that the Veterans Experience Office, Department 
of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information 
abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and comment. The PRA submission describes the nature of the 
information collection and its expected cost and burden and it includes 
the actual data collection instrument.

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. Refer to 
``Clearance for A-11 Section 280 Improving Customer Experience 
Information Collection'' in any correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maribel Aponte, Office of Enterprise 
and Integration, Data Governance Analytics (008), 1717 H Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20006, (202) 266-4688 or email [email protected]. 
Please refer to ``OMB Control No. 2900-0876'' in any correspondence.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-21.
    Title: Clearance for A-11 Section 280 Improving Customer Experience 
Information Collection.
    OMB Control Number: 2900-0876.
    Type of Review: ICR Revision.
    Abstract: This ICR Revision seeks to enhance and expand the scope 
of the ``burden hours'' associated with the Department of Veterans 
Affairs customer experience data collection system from 625,000 to 
1,750,000. ``Burden Hours'' are defined as the total time, effort, or 
financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 
or disclose or provide information in a survey or other associated data 
collection instrument. In layman's terms, burden relates to the time it 
takes a respondent to complete and submit a customer satisfaction 
survey or questionnaire. VA, when it submitted the original Clearance 
for A-11 Section 280 Improving Customer Experience Information 
Collection, calculated total the Burden needed based on the number of 
Customer Satisfaction surveys under management (43 in calendar year 
2020) and our informed estimate of growth in number of surveys under 
management. As a result of unexpectedly strong and robust need (and 
corresponding requests) for new customer experience surveys by VA 
customers (stakeholders and partners), VA has already reached 94 
surveys under management and anticipate to reach 130 or 140 by the end 
of Fiscal Year 2022. This anticipated FY22 growth, and per our models 
for growth from now until our current ICR expires in March, 2023, 
directly translates into a corresponding need for an increase in 
associated ``burden hours'' from 625,000 to 1,750,000 to accommodate 
the current and future demand. This action is necessary now so that our 
ICR remains in good standing and VA does not exceed our approved burden 
hour grand total approved figure and risk being in non-compliance of 
our approved ICR.
    General Background on our Customer Experience data collection 
listening tools Whether seeking a loan, Social Security benefits, 
Veterans benefits, or other services provided by the Federal 
Government, individuals and businesses expect Government customer 
services to be efficient and intuitive, just like services from leading 
private-sector organizations. Yet the 2016 American Consumer 
Satisfaction Index and the

[[Page 41162]]

2017 Forrester Federal Customer Experience Index show that, on average, 
Government services lag nine percentage points behind the private 
sector. A modern, streamlined and responsive customer experience means: 
Raising government-wide customer experience to the average of the 
private sector service industry; developing indicators for high-impact 
Federal programs to monitor progress towards excellent customer 
experience and mature digital services; and providing the structure 
(including increasing transparency) and resources to ensure customer 
experience is a focal point for agency leadership. To support this, OMB 
Circular A-11 Section 280 established government-wide standards for 
mature customer experience organizations in government and measurement. 
To enable Federal programs to deliver the experience taxpayers deserve, 
they must undertake three general categories of activities: Conduct 
ongoing customer research, gather and share customer feedback, and test 
services and digital products.
    These data collection efforts may be either qualitative or 
quantitative in nature or may consist of mixed methods. Additionally, 
data may be collected via a variety of means, including but not limited 
to electronic or social media, direct or indirect observation (i.e., in 
person, video and audio collections), interviews, questionnaires, 
surveys, and focus groups. Veterans Experience Office will limit its 
inquiries to data collections that solicit strictly voluntary opinions 
or responses. Steps will be taken to ensure anonymity of respondents in 
each activity covered by this request.
    The results of the data collected will be used to improve the 
delivery of Federal services and programs. It will include the creation 
of personas, customer journey maps, and reports and summaries of 
customer feedback data and user insights. Veterans Experience Office 
will collect this information by electronic means when possible, as 
well as by mail, fax, telephone, technical discussions, and in-person 
interviews. Veterans Experience Office may also utilize observational 
techniques to collect this information.
    Collections will be targeted to the solicitation of opinions from 
respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience 
with the program in the near future. For the purposes of this request, 
``customers'' are individuals, businesses, and organizations that 
interact with a Federal Government agency or program, either directly 
or via a Federal contractor. This could include individuals or 
households; businesses or other for-profit organizations; not-for 
profit institutions; State, local or tribal governments; Federal 
government; and Universities.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number. The Federal Register Notice with a 
60-day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of 
information was published at 84 FR 149 on August 2, 2019, pages 37953 
and 37954. No comments on this data collection request were submitted 
by the public.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 1,750,000.
    Estimated Average Burden per Respondent: Varied, dependent upon the 
data collection method used. The possible response time to complete a 
questionnaire or survey may be 2 minutes or up to 2 hours to 
participate in an interview.
    Frequency of Response: Varied, dependent upon the data collection 
method used.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,500,000.

    By direction of the Secretary.
Maribel Aponte,
VA PRA Clearance Officer, Office of Enterprise and Integration, Data 
Governance Analytics, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2021-16224 Filed 7-29-21; 8:45 am]
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