Applied Technology For A More Efficient Connecticut State Government October, 1998 Department of Information Technology, Office of the State Comptroller and Office of Policy & Management, with the Organization of Chief Fiscal Officers ELECTRONIC FORMS

The Current State of Affairs IT TOOK COUNTLESS HOURS TO PRINT, KEY, DELIVER AND STORE THIS PAPER. THE CORE BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT SHOULDNT BE HANDLING PAPER...

The Future is Here IT SHOULD BE DOING THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE.

The Future is Here 4 MUCH OF THAT PRODUCTIVITY WILL COME FROM AUTOMATING ROUTINE BUSINESS…. * BUT ONLY IF ITS AUTOMATED CORRECTLY 4 THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE FUTURE WILL BE BASED ON IMPLEMENTING THE POWER OF THE DESKTOP.

The Future is Here Electronic Forms Program

The Current State of Affairs 8More than 4 million forms are printed each year 8 It costs more than $1 million per year to print forms

The Current State of Affairs 8Someone has to fill them out manually - agencies, businesses, citizens or municipal governments - usually more than once. 8Someone has to look up the rules and do the math…checking it twice! 8Someone has to process them and check the accuracy…each time! With paper forms...

The Current State of Affairs With paper forms... 8Someone has to store them for umpteen years, in some cases by multiple locations. …….Over and over and over again. 8Someone has to transport them, receive them and track them - every time they are handled.

8The process behind many of these forms hasnt been re-engineered in decades! The Current State of Affairs

In sum, the per year costs associated with the current system are at least The Current State of Affairs $100,000,000 …..and probably a whole lot more

Paper forms cost too much to: The Current State of Affairs Print Store8Fill out 8Move from place to place 8 File and Retrieve

Technology To The Rescue! The capacity to do vastly more state business electronically is mushrooming

Currently there are about 25,000 computers on state employee desks. Technology To The Rescue!

Internet access is widespread and growing rapidly among: Technology To The Rescue!

Internet access is widespread and growing rapidly among: 4State employees 4Businesses 4Towns 4Citizens Technology To The Rescue!

Electronic Forms Will Save Millions of Dollars

Electronic forms are quicker and easier to fill out due to built-in: 4Prompts Don't forget to... Calculations 4Help Screens 4Auto-fill from centralized databases

Electronic Forms Will Save Millions of Dollars Forms can now be electronically: 4Transmitted 4Stored 4Backed-up 4Printed as needed 4Approved

4Electronic capture of management data Example: How much do we spend on travel? Electronic Forms Yield a Bonus

Legal Issues 4Electronic signatures with proper safeguards are acceptable for many purposes 4Legislation is in preparation to permit electronic signature in most other circumstances.

Legal Issues 4Retention requirements do not generally demand paper records 4Records retention periods are the same whether records are electronic or paper

The Current State of Affairs Bad News: Unfortunately, its often the same form. Theres good news and bad news about the current state of forms automation... Good News: Agencies are automating forms... Travel Authorization

The Current State of Affairs Theres good news and bad news about the current state of forms automation... Good News: Management is investing in systems to automate… Bad News: Unfortunately, it is often expensive and duplicative technology.

The Current State of Affairs Theres good news and bad news about the current state of forms automation... Good News: Management is developing the capability to address information automation… Bad News: Unfortunately, there is no common platform to allow coordination.

The Current State of Affairs 8Without a system of up front standards and coordination… Connecticut will loose its best opportunity for efficient business automation. If we dont act now, we could be missing the boat.

One standard statewide software license. 4One central forms library. 4One set of core forms, extensible for individual agency needs. 4One set of connections to definitive central data bases. The Future is Here Electronic Forms Program

The Future is Here Electronic Forms Program 4One central file server. 4One set of training & management principles. 4One comprehensive design of security features. One statewide program designed for success.

The Future is Here Electronic Forms Program 4The Goal is to re-engineer and consolidate. 4The Goal is fewer forms, not more.

Pilot Effort 4The travel authorization and reimbursement 4A state financial form (B-107 Allotment) 4The hospital newborn screening form Is being implemented, and includes the following forms:

Pilot Effort 4A registration form submitted by a member of the public Is being implemented, and includes the following forms: 4The employee directory update The interagency request for training

Pilot Effort 4Design and test a management structure for coordination among state agencies. 4Test procedures for reengineering and programming in several environments. 4Build and test the capacity to implement electronic forms on a larger scale. The pilot effort will:

Pilot Effort 4Test the design of consolidated central forms allowing for agency extensions. 4Test the system for assisting agencies to automate efficiently. The pilot effort will: 4Promote and test the mechanics of working off centralized data bases.

An Example 820,000 forms a year 830 bargaining units with 30 sets of rules 8An estimated average time to prepare, review and process the 2 forms is more than 5 hours of staff time The travel authorization and travel reimbursement forms involve:

An Example 4Thus, computerization will save an estimated $1,000,000 per year on the travel authorization and reimbursement forms alone! 4It will save at least 2 hours and $50 on each of the 20,000 forms per year!

Efficiency and productivity increase comes from using technology, not just from owning it. Why Electronic Forms?

4Form conversion will save millions of dollars 4Re-engineering will increase efficiency and improve service 4Implementation will centralize duplicate databases and capture management data

Why Electronic Forms? In sum, electronic forms will save money and free employees for more productive core work.

Applied Technology For A More Efficient State Government ELECTRONIC FORMS Department of Information Technology, Office of the Comptroller and Office of Policy & Management, with the Organization of Chief Fiscal Officers