Government Bits

Tracking how technology is transforming interaction between governments and citizens.

One of the key questions I get during and after my presentations on using technology to deliver benefits and services more efficiently is, “How easy is it?”

Aside from the obvious answer of the need to really start with the analysis of your agency’s processes so that you have insight into where and when technology makes sense, there is also something that can be done in the short-term.

I have yet to meet a governemnt process involving paper forms and documents which didn’t benefit significantly by conversion to smart electronic forms which can still be printed, but which allow for agencies to encourage people to submit electronically in much the same way Amazon and eBay have convinced us to buy online.

This latter, “low-hanging fruit” is not at the demise of a long-term strategy. In fact, I have often seen it be the catalyst for inspiring even greater leaps into improved services and efficiency with IT.

Firstly, look for paper forms that:

• Are important and use by a lot of people
• Are often submitted with missing, illegible or wrong information
• Require a lot of staff time and energy to process in the mail centers and in manual data re-entry into back-end systems

On Feb 25, 2009, Federal Computer Week and Adobe are hosting an executive event at The Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC. This is an executive-level educational breakfast where top-level government officials and senior industry executives will discuss approaches to improve interaction between the federal government and its citizens.

The keynote speaker will be Teresa Nasif, Director of the Federal Citizen Information Center with the GSA. Teresa will provide best practices on how to use existing technologies to improve the interactive link between the federal government and its citizens. She will also look at how the same tools can help deliver on President Obama’s mission of increased transparency across government.

Learn more or register now.

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Over the weekend I listened to commentary on the passage of the President’s Stimulus bill and heard Congressman Ron Paul claim that there were only 5 hard copies of the legislative tome available for review to legislators for a material period of time. I also saw reporters page through the bill on TV to illustrate the hand scribbled amendments in the margin of the final version sent to the President.

I was a legislative aid on Capitol Hill from 1993-1999, when collaboration technology was just getting started, as was 24 hour news coverage. Legislation was available online, but never immediately. Back then, when the President’s budget was sent to Congress, it was done so in paper, and staff would stay up all night reading through a single version so the Senator could have comments ready for an early morning statement. Rapidly amended legislation always caused tension between Members because there was no way to quickly distribute changes on the fly and make intelligent public comments to feed the increasing 24 hour news demands. So the news coverage for urgent funding packages (usually supplemental’s for disaster response) or high profile bills usually devolved into a discussion of process and representative fairness, rather than the substantive merits of the legislation. Much like the public discourse this past weekend.

But this is 2009.

The Washington DC technology community has been abuzz lately with the idea of cloud computing. This is largely spurred on by a classic tech battle shaping up between Goggle and Microsoft over the delivery model for software applications to federal agencies.

The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, based on the graphical image depicted in computer network diagrams. The specific technical meaning of cloud computing is dependent on who is talking about it. At the highest level, cloud computing is like having pizza delivered rather than the traditional way of dining in the restaurant. Either method may be more appropriate depending on your circumstance, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that one is always better than the other or that the pizza will taste any better. For some government agencies, cloud computing will be as sensible delivery method, for others it will not, or perhaps a hybrid will be best. If you’d like to see beautiful versions of well known on-premise software applications (Acrobat and Connect) hosted in the cloud, go to www.Acrobat.com, you can use them for free.

Unfortunately all the enthusiasm over cloud computing has clouded over the more important opportunity for government software applications – which is that for truly connected democracy, applications have to be ubiquitous. If a user is offline, working across multiple devices or operating on an unsupported platform, cloud applications may fall short. Government agencies shouldn’t get locked in to the cloud or not cloud debate, but should consider the true needs of their end users, all relevant infrastructure in the ecosystem that can be leveraged (Yes, this is a veiled plug for Adobe Reader, Flash and AIR) and leverage the appropriate delivery models to optimize the user experience and productivity.

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A new case study has just been published on the use of electronic forms and processes for improving the cancer screening process of Australian citizens.

This case is interesting because the Department of Health and Ageing solution actually uses the shared-services platform provided by the Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (ADIISR) available to all federal agencies and built using Adobe LiveCycle ES. Because of this shared-service infrastructure, the Department of Health and Ageing was able to get their solution rolled out quicker and more cost-efficiently.

Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
Australian health agency improves cancer screening process, completeness of medical records, and realizes 923% ROI over three years using Adobe LiveCycle ES solutions. You can access the case study here.

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Today, as I catch up on the emails flooding my inbox, I came across an email that I wanted to share and which I thought was quite timely given my recent entry on court case management (Court Case Managment: Beyond the wasted paper).

Amidst the salutations that usually arrive in an email, the key statement that stood out was:

“Ontario Supreme Court Justice The Honorable Patrick J Lesage and University Professor Michael Code have released a report to the public on major case management in the province of Ontario. This report ‘SPECIFICALLY’ names Adobe on no less than 5 separate occasions as the standard for electronic disclosure across the province. The report also recommends the province adopt Acrobat for case management for policing, crown attorneys and the legal community at large.”

Adobe PDF and Acrobat are already widely used in Ontario to address the real challenges of accurately and efficiently collecting and collaborating on documents and evidence for a given investigation.

The venue was larger than I had imagined or expected. The three speakers from the previous session had just finished and were exiting the stage. I clipped on my microphone which would project my voice to the far corners of the room and faced an audience of judges, lawyers and court managers.

I had spent the last couple of days reviewing my presentation, figuring out the best way to make the point that courtroom paper was not just an environmental issue, but it also impacts data accuracy and analysis, staff productivity, and time-to-decision.

I flashed up a slide.

Arkansas Appellate Judge Wendell Griffin (Louanne Parker v. John Matthew Parker)

• Appellant’s brief consists of 4 volumes, including a 277-page abstract and a 684-page addendum
• The appellate record in this case was 10 volumes, totaling 1959 pages. Appellant submitted a 980-page brief. Appellee’s brief, which included an unnecessary supplemental addendum, numbered 174 pages. Appellant filed an 18 -page reply brief.
• 20 copies of the briefs required (17 for filing with the clerk, 1 for opposing counsel, 1 for the circuit court, and 1 for that party)
• Then the briefs and record on appeal consisted of 25,399 pieces of paper.
• According to an environmental company based in San Francisco, California, one tree makes 16.67 reams (one ream = 500 sheets) of paper. Conservatree, How much paper can be made from a tree? (last assessed Jan. 18, 2007). Based on these calculations, the paper filed by the parties on this appeal alone has consumed almost 3 trees.

As we all know, FOIA has been with us for many years, over 40 years in fact, and while it has always been taken seriously, the Obama Administration’s focus on transparency has given this long-standing act a boost. As I was cruising the news this morning, I came across an interesting article from FederalNewsRadio (http://tinyurl.com/deanrd). In this interview with Linda Koontz, the former Director of Information Services Issues with the Government Accountability Office, she pointed out that GAO has difficulties measuring an agency’s compliance with the FOIA laws. She also mentioned backlogs measured in months and years. I guess I can think of valid reasons for such backlogs, however, I can also think of possible solutions to help speed the process, as well as make it more accountable for compliance purposes.

When government agencies move services online, they sometimes face the challenge of adoption among citizens. Some citizens just prefer in-person or phone channels. But many citizens may not be aware that they can apply for benefits, file taxes or renew licenses online. Some agencies are getting creative with how they communicate availability of services to citizens.

A great example is the US Social Security Administration.

There are 78 million baby boomers who will soon be eligible for retirement benefits. There are plenty of articles warning us of the financial strain the aging American population will put on our Social Security system. But the lesser covered story is the challenge of enrolling millions of Americans for retirement benefits. SSA officials estimate that 10,000 boomers a day will apply for benefits over the next 20 years. Similar to other agencies who have adopted best practices, applicants can enroll in person, by phone or online – with online being the most cost efficient for the SSA. But many retirees eligible for benefits may never have thought to apply online.

Enter Patty Duke.