Tag Archives: efficiency

Retooling Federal Workforce Skills

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With the introduction of technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), mobile apps and more, the business functions of government are becoming more automated. While fears of machines taking over the world -- or at least our jobs -- are unfounded, the type of work government employees will be doing is changing dramatically. Additionally, there is a huge learning curve needed for employees to adopt these technologies to ensure they live up to their promise of greater efficiency and cost savings. The common denominator for managing all of this change? Training.

In a recent survey, 43 percent of Federal IT professional respondents said that one of the reasons their IT environments were not optimized to meet current demands was insufficient investment in training. Organizations need to take full advantage of budgeted education stipends to get holistic training for management and employees to ensure they get the most out of their technology investment. Investing more in training up front can save money down the road by avoiding the need to re-tool or even scrap systems to better fit the skill sets of the workforce. Continue reading →

Declare Your Independence from Paper

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Digital-first is a common mantra among government agencies today. While it's been getting more press as agencies move to improve their citizen interactions, this shift to online is nothing new.

In 2003, the Government Paper Elimination Act went into effect. In 2013, the Obama administration set out the ambitious goal of a completely paperless government by 2019. Whether or not that goal is reached, by 2019 we will be living in a society much less reliant on paper. The benefits of a paperless society are numerous and include:

  • Environmental - Less paper equals less deforestation and pollution related to the manufacture of paper.[Tweet "The benefits of a paperless society are numerous. #GovEventsBlog"]
  • Economic - According to the EPA, a paperless office saves roughly $80 per employee annually in paper-related costs, which includes not only the paper itself, but also ink, toner, storage space, postage and more. Individual employee savings are even bigger when you consider the efficiencies gained. "The ROI for Government of Going Digital Made Simple" report from IDC Government Insights found that employee salaries are the "key component for savings." Reducing the amount of time workers spend processing, storing and maintaining paper forms will have the most impact on costs. Efficiency is gained not only for those employees in charge of documents, but also for people across the organization that benefit from having simplified access to data.
  • Data Value - Going paperless also increases the security and value of the data once stashed away in dusty file cabinets. With data stored digitally, organizations can better access it to analyze trends and comply with requests for information and transparency.

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