Digital Transformation

10 government ethics best practices for conflict review and financial disclosure

These tips can help government ethics offices streamline the processes for ensuring financial disclosure filings are complete, accurate, and on time Every government worker who is in a position to make final decisions or take actions that “will have a direct and substantial economic effect on the interests of any non-federal entity” is required to fill out an annual financial disclosure form. The purpose is simple – to eliminate any conflict of interest – or even the appearance of a potential conflict of interest. Yet not every ethics office navigates the financial disclosure season in the same way. We’ve seen it firsthand working with nearly 40 different government agencies, in recent years, to assist with more than a half million financial disclosure forms. Our experience in this area has given us a good view of which processes work well – and which ones need improvement. Below are a handful of […]

Troubleshooting what went wrong with FAFSA – and how to fix it

Digital modernization is harder than it sounds; here’s what we believe went wrong and how we think this could be prevented in the future by Intelliworx® Note: Our intent here isn’t to criticize the government or another solution provider trying to help the government, but to contribute to an important conversation about what happened. Just like an after-action review (AAR) in the military, nobody can solve a problem if we’re all too afraid to talk about the realities in public. To that end, we’ve done our best to describe suggestions in a positive fashion. Intelliworx has helped some 30 federal agencies transform hundreds of government forms. We don’t just turn paper forms into digital copies like PDFs, we transform the whole business process making it better and easier for everyone involved. We have a special interest in education too. This is because we’ve helped the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) […]

7 financial disclosure tools government ethics shops need to streamline conflict review

Agencies review tens of thousands of financial disclosure forms from civil servants every year, here’s how 39 agencies have made things easier for their ethics offices by Intelliworx Every year ethics offices around the government face a time crunch during the financial disclosure period. That’s when lawyers and compliance officials sort through tens of thousands of disclosure forms submitted by civil servants looking for conflicts of interest. While only the most senior government employees are typically required to do this, it still amounts to hundreds of thousands of forms. In the last six years, Intelliworx has helped 39 government ethics offices process more than half a million financial disclosure forms. Why are we involved? We built a software platform that not only digitizes financial disclosure forms (including OGE-450 and OGE-278) but also digitizes the entire process – from data collection to review and approval. That makes it easier for civil […]

The 7 common challenges digitizing federal application processes solves

More agencies are digitizing forms and processes because it’s a cost-effective way for the government to deliver a higher quality of service and benefits to citizens by Intelliworx The key to the federal government’s digital transformation is to keep the big picture in mind. So wrote our CEO Rob Hankey in a recent article contributed to FEDweek. Digitizing a single form is relatively straightforward, he noted. The hard part is mapping the data collected on these forms to the larger business process and workflow. The management of applications – or application management – is a good example. Citizens must apply for a range of government benefits, authorizations, and services at different times in their lives. This ranges from obtaining a passport and requesting student loans – to securing permits to use federal land and applying for federal housing grants. There are a lot of good reasons for the renewed enthusiasm […]

Proactive accountability is the key to telework in the federal government

Nearly 60% of the federal workforce works remotely today; here’s the gist of what agencies need to demonstrate the value of telecommuting

The debate over telework has reached new heights. Some folks are for it – others are against it – and few seem to be giving up any space for compromise. In the interim, federal agencies are stuck juggling competing interests from employees, leaders and politicians.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a recent example. Following pressure from Congress and the Administration, it began pressing employees to return to the office last year. However, they have recently backed off following union pressure.

Streamlining Digitizing of Government Documents Demands Comprehensive Process Mapping (FEDweek)

Taking a single form and digitizing it is straightforward; the challenge lies in planning how the form’s data will fit back into the overall business process. I spoke with a procurement officer facing a unique issue while attending a recent federal agency event crucial to raising awareness of solutions for the government’s digital transformation goals. The agency needed to capture and integrate hand-signed consent forms into dual record systems, as they could not accept electronic signatures. This highlights an essential aspect of government form digitization – understanding that forms are a part of a larger business workflow. Forms simply collect data that is to be used. It’s essential to map out the entire business process. Read the full post here: Efficiently Digitizing Government Documents Requires Mapping out the Whole Process (FEDweek)

7 takeaways from OMB’s 21st Century IDEA guidance [OMB M-23-22]

OMB’s new guidance to Federal agencies for implementing the 21st Century IDEA emphasizes rebuilding trust in government by improving the digital experience of its websites and apps by Intelliworx If you can’t find the information you are looking for on a website it erodes trust. The same is true if the information you do find is outdated or conflicting. That’s a problem the U.S. government is striving to address on its digital properties. Trust in government is at an all-time low, according to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual global survey. It found people trust business and non-governmental organizations more than they trust the government – and it’s been trending in this direction for years. So, the digital experience (DX) – the interactions citizens have with government websites and apps – impacts trust. Fixing the issues isn’t a panacea, but it will go a long way toward rebuilding trust. […]

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