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By: FEDweek StaffThe public collectively spends more than 10 billion hours annually filling out the nearly 10,000 forms of federal agencies whose paper versions consume some 2.25 million trees, says a report that says increased digitization could save on both.
The report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that while the government “understands the importance of modernizing and digitizing, it “has made little progress in updating its IT systems and processes to improve efficiency and access to the American people. Many government IT systems lag far behind the private sector.”
Only about 20 percent of the government’s annual IT spending is devoted to modernization, it said, noting that spending under the Modernizing Government Technology Act that provides up-front funding for major upgrades has “mostly focused on cybersecurity and not on updating federal legacy systems.”
It adds that while the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act requires reporting on the burden imposed, that law “neither takes into account current technologies nor provides guidance on modern data collection.” Further, “agency implementation has been inconsistent” on the 2018 Integrated Digital Experience Act, which aimed to improve the digital experience for government customers.
However, it saw positive signs in adaptations agencies made out of necessity due to the pandemic, in increasing use of forms that can be filled and filed online and that accept digital signatures. “
As we consider the post-pandemic era, we can’t lose the momentum of this change. Digitization will enable government agencies to cut costs, increase efficiency, and reduce waste every day. As we continue to deal with future crises and disruptions, digitization will build resilience into the federal system,” it says.
Recommendations included that Congress determine impediments to modernizing forms, develop capital working funds for that specific purpose, and continue to fund the Technology Modernization Fund.
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