DOCSLIB.ORG

Innovations for Federal Service: a Study of Innovative Technologies for Federal Government Services to Older Americans and Consumers. Final Report

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Innovations for Federal Service: a Study of Innovative Technologies for Federal Government Services to Older Americans and Consumers. Final Report DOCUMENT RESUME ED 382 154 IR 016 970 AUTHOR Harris, John; And Others TITLE Innovations for Federal Service: A Study of Innovative Technologies for Federal Government Services to Older Americans and Consumers. Final Report. INSTITUTION Reference Point Foundation, Hackensack, NJ. SPONS AGENCY Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. Office of Technology Assessment. PUB DATE Feb 93 CONTRACT 13-4805-0 NOTE 102p. PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO5 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Case Studies; Cost Effectiveness; *Federal Programs; Federal State Relationship; *Information Services; *Information Technology; *Older Adults; Private Sector; Program Evaluation; *Program Improvement; Public Agencies; Public Opinion; strategic Planning; Surveys; Technological Advancement IDENTIFIERS Congress; Food Stamp Program; Office of Technology Assessment; Social Security Administration ABSTRACT This document focuses on technologies that can be used to improve federal government services. Reference Point, a foundation based in New Jersey, was chosen by the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress to study the application of advanced information. The applications selected for the study were: Electronic Information Clearinghouse, Print-on-demand Document Fulfillment, Public Access Points, Audiotex Services, Smartcard and Electronic Benefit Transfer, Transaction Clearinghouse, Electronic Forms, and Cablecast. A general survey revealed strong interest in the application of new technologies for alternative service deliveries; the most highly rated was the cluster of applications that unifitl information and offered new means to disseminate it. Convenience, encyclopedic completeness, and timeliness were identified as the key values for all who need access to federal information. Efficiency and the "new and wider" channel of distribution were the key values for the federal agencies. Case studies were conducted on: strategic planning of technology in Social Security administration; electronic benefits transfer technology for food stamps; and public information services in the Consumer Information Center. Findings suggest that electronic service delivery represents both alternatives or replacements to current delivery and new services; government-wide utilities may be more cost-effective than those of individual agencies; federal utilities benefit from the cooperation of state and local government and the private and voluntary sectors; and strategic planning for large-scale service transformations is css2ntial. Recommendations and policy options for Congress are provided. (AEF) tr. U U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office 04 Educafic-rai Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) O rhos document nas been reproduced as recervecl from the person or organizatron ongrnating it O !Arno( changes Sane been made to improve reproduction dualrry Points of new or ocanrons slated In thrsdOCu meta do not necessarily represent ()neva' OE RI crosdron or policy Innovations for Federal Service a study of innovativetechnologies for federal government services to older Americans and consumers By John Harris, Alan F. Westin, Anne L. Finger Reference Point Foundation Prepared for the Office of Technology Assessment United States Congress Contract No. 13-4805.0 Final ReportFebruary, 1993 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Kathleen Mullally BEST COPY AVAILABLE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Executive Summary eference Point, a 501(c)(3) foundation Transaction Clearinghouse based in New jersey, was selected by the Office of Technology Assessment O Electronic Forms ,JTA.) of the US Congress to study the Cablecast application of advanced information technology to improve federal services. A general survey of federal agencies and Congress is seeking to identify innovations others was conducted using two similar for possible use by the federal government. questionnaires: one applied to services for This study may be distinguished from past older Americans; the other applied to studies by OTA, GAO, and others in a most services for consumers. Interviews with important way. Its focus is not upon the officials of selected agencies were also made operational or administrative efficiencies, concerning programs for which there is though such efficiencies may be identified. special interest. In addition, the advice and Rather, the emphasis of this study will be insights of representatives from the placed on uses of technologies as services in voluntary sector and others were gathered themselves that may be utilized or applied through visits and phone interviews; either to clients directly or to agents who literature in selected technologies was provide such client services (e.g., local social studied; and government reports, internal services, public schools, public libraries, etc.) memoranda, and studies were examined. in cooperation with the federal government. Results of General Survey Such client services may replace current practices, supplement them, or represent The survey revealed strong interest in the wholly new services. application of new technologies for alternative service deliveries. Many agencies The applications selected for study were: are actively developing many service Electronic Information Clearinghouse concepts engaging such technology. While Print-on-demand Document Fulfillment the private sector often seems to have been the source of the original innovation, the Public Access Points scale and ambition of the federal application Audiotex Services make them unique and will profoundly Smartcard and Electronic Benefit affect the development and application of Transfer the technology itself. The result should be Chart: Average Rating of Innovative Service Concepts by Responding Federal Agencies Public Access Points Information Clearinghouse Transaction Clearinghouse Print-on-Demand Cablecast videotex Electronic Forms IAudiotex EBT 1 1.5 2.5 3.5 4 Very Not Valuable Valuable at All Innovations for Federal Service new opportunity andexamples for the federal agencies. Agency publication budgets private sector. have been greatly affected by policy and fiscal constraints since 1982. Overall, one in A number of interagency efforts promotethe four federal publications has been use of these technologiesfor alternative eliminated. Budgets for printing have been service delivery, though there is no widely reduced. As a result, the government coordination ofthe concept. Yet dissemination of public information has there is a growing clarity to the been reduced. As a remedy to this situation, conceptualization of the alternative services; an electronic informationclearinghouse may and some agencies seek to integrate these provide a new medium, one that on a technologies creatively and transactional basis is nominal in cost yet comprehensively, recognizing that they yields magnitudes of distribution and involve interrelated capacities and impressions that current print-and-post interacting potentials. Increasingly, these media cannot provide. technologies are viewed not merely as "aids" to existing services or "tools"of Case Studies productivity, but as expansions and enhancements of federal services, offering a Social Security Administration: Case new quality or new kindof service that is Study on Strategic Planning of not possible without them. Technology Of all the technologies, the most highly Social Security technological development rated was the cluster of applications that has been governed by strategic planning unified information and offered new means since 1975. The implementation of these to disseminate it. An electronicinformation plans has been marred, but in spite of the clearinghouse with print-on-demand struggles, the technologies have evolved in a facilities, generally available to all federal consistent direction. However, the impact agencies, and offering immediate electronic upon operations and human resourceshas dissemination to "public access points" been adverse, and technological especially public libraries - -was almost developments have generally failed to be universally valued. It was rated more integrated with operational planning. The valuable than audiotex or cablecasting, latest strategic plan for SSA seeks to redress though these technologies are more familiar these shortcomings. It is the first such plan and immediately available. to lead technology by the directionof the agency's service goals. No such clearinghouse or informationutility now exists. Food Stamps: Case Study on Electronic Convenience, encyclopedic completeness, Benefits Transfer Technology and timeliness were identified as the key values for the public (and for all who need Food stamps provide income assistance to 9 to 11 million households; couponsissued for access to federal information). food purchases equal $26 billion per year (at A previous GAO study found that this current case rates.) The coupon program, "clearinghouse" a point of reference or basically unchanged since its inception, is source of primary citations tofederal costly to maintain for both the government information resourceswas indeed the and those who participate in itbanks that single most highly prized feature of the issue and process coupons, retailersthat promises of information technology. Thirty- "cash" them, and recipients who must eight percent of surveyed associations, and obtain new coupon booklets each month. 61% of surveyed libraries, regarded on-line The use of electronic benefits transfer(EBT)
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, Ca
    RITZ-CARLTON HALF MOON BAY, CA APRIL 23-25, 2017 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDF TABLE OF CONTENTS 2017 Value Program Members .......................................................... 3 Gold Value Program Members ...................................................... 4 Silver Value Program Members ................................................... 13 Bronze Value Program Members ................................................ 18 Agenda................................................................................................. 29 Hotel Map ........................................................................................... 32 Speaker Biographies ......................................................................... 33 Attendees ............................................................................................ 42 By Name ......................................................................................... 42 By Company ................................................................................... 45 Meeting Dates .................................................................................... 48 Board of Directors ............................................................................. 50 Current Data ....................................................................................... 53 SVIA Annual Investment and Policy Survey for 2016 ................ 53 SVIA Quarterly Characteristics Survey through 4Q2016 .......... 73 Stable Times Volume 20 Issue 2 .....................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Stable Times
    SVIA Nsltr_6_A 6/30/14 5:08 PM Page 1 STABLE TIMES The publication of the Stable Value Investment Association Volume 18, Issue 1 • First Half 2014 Making Retirement The 2014 Elections and IN THIS ISSUE Income Security Work What Will They Mean Making Retirement Income By Randy Myers By Randy Myers Security Work By Randy Myers ....................................1 Stable Value Investment Association Chair- Could a Republican takeover of the U.S. Sen- man James King is proud to be part of the ate make it easier for President Obama to get The 2014 Elections and stable value industry. “It is an important asset things done? Republican businesswoman What Will They Mean class, and it’s part of the fabric of defined Gwendolyn King, president of the Podium By Randy Myers ....................................1 contribution plans,” he said as he welcomed Prose speakers bureau and a former Social his industry colleagues to the SVIA’s 2014 Security commissioner, thinks it’s possible. A Predictable Surprise: Spring Seminar in April. “We should be proud The Unraveling of the U.S. of being stewards of stable value, and of Republicans already control the House. Con- Retirement System bringing it to retirement plans in the Ameri- ventional wisdom posits that gaining a lock on By Randy Myers ....................................1 can workplace.” both chambers of Congress would make it even more difficult for President Obama to Outlook and Trends in King, also managing director and senior client carry out his agenda in the final years of his Defined Contribution Plans portfolio manager in the Stable Value Markets second term.
    [Show full text]
  • Cathedral Age Cathedral Age Is a Benefit of Nca Membership
    CATHEDRCATHEDR AL AL AGEAGE WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL | SUMMER 2016 a bold and powerful witness CATHEDRAL AGE SUMMER 2016 4 A Personal Connection 18 The Gospel 30 The Lee-Jackson Windows Dean-elect Randy Hollerith Task Force Report According to Vader the rt. rev. mariann edgar budde kevin eckstrom 36 A Place of Worship, 6 An Even Greater Love 20 Spotlight on Scholars Welcome and Witness Homily for First Lady Nancy Reagan kevin eckstrom the rev. canon jan naylor cope the rev. stuart a. kenworthy 23 In a Van Down 38 Focus 9 Second Sundays News from the Cathedral by the River 10 A “Bold & Powerful mikah meyer 44 Passages “Contract Let for North Transept” Witness” 24 Onward! To Phase 2 A look at the history and wisdom Interview with Presiding Bishop Earthquake Restoration Update in the Cathedral Age archives Michael Curry james w. shepherd 16 Faith over Fear 28 One Final Choosing Unity over Extremism rabbi m. bruce lustig Standing Ovation The Musical Legacy of J. Reilly Lewis margaret shannon Restoring the nation’s cathedral to its original glory, one stone at a time, is an honor and a privilege. Thank you for above crane and scaffolding in place at the north transept for the opportunity. phase 2a earthquake restoration work photo c. winterbottom on the cover families enjoying a lightshow in the nave during www.lortonstone.com february’s seeing deeper week of programs photo d. thomas summer 2016 CATHEDRAL AGE contributors Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde is the Cathedral Age is the official publication of Washington spiritual leader of 40,500 Episcopalians in 89 con- National Cathedral.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Security & You: Name That Commissioner
    https://tucson.com/business/investment/personal-finance/social-security-you-name-that- commissioner/article_20fd573b-0184-5ad7-88f8-b2daae056a3b.html Social Security & You Social Security & You: Name that commissioner • By Tom Margenau • Nov 24, 2019 I am going to give you a series of names. I would give any reader a hundred bucks if he or she could tell me who these people are and what they all have in common. Here are the names: Stanford Ross. William Driver. John Svahn. Martha McSteen. Dorcas Hardy. Gwendolyn King. Shirley Chater. Kenneth Apfel. Michael Astrue. So, who are they? They are nine of the past 29 commissioners of Social Security. The commissioner of Social Security is the top spot within the Social Security Administration. He or she is responsible for running one of the largest agencies in the federal government. This includes maintaining Social Security numbers and earnings records for nearly every working American and paying retirement, disability and survivor benefits to about 62 million people every month. Yet, almost no one knows who these people are. Most folks can probably name the FBI director or the head of the CIA. But SSA is one of the many federal agencies whose top dog might as well be named Underdog. Who heads the Veterans Administration? Who is the commissioner of the IRS? Who runs the Federal Highway Administration? How about the Bureau of Labor Statistics? The heads of these and so many other federal agencies are almost always nameless political appointees. And therein lies a story I’d like to tell. For part of my career with the SSA, I worked for several Social Security commissioners.
    [Show full text]
  • 1989 Journal
    OCTOBER TERM, 1989 Reference Index Contents: Page Statistics n General m Appeals in Arguments in Attorneys in Briefs iv Certiorari iv Costs v Judgments and Opinions v Miscellaneous v Original Cases v Parties vi Records vi Rehearings vi Rules vi Stays vi Conclusion vn (i) II STATISTICS AS OF JUNE 28, 1990 In Forma Paid Oripnal Pauperis Total Cases Cases Number of cases on docket 14 2,416 3,316 5,746 Cases disposed of 2 2,051 2,879 4,932 Remaining on docket 12 365 437 814 Cases docketed during term: Paid cases 2,032 In forma pauperis cases 2,885 Original cases 1 Total 4,918 Cases remaining from last term 828 Total cases on docket 5,746 Cases disposed of 4,932 Number of remaining on docket 814 Petitions for certiorari granted: In paid cases 100 In in forma pauperis cases 19 Appeals granted: In paid cases 3 In in forma pauperis cases 0 Total cases granted plenary review 123* Cases argued during term 146 Number disposed of by full opinions 143 Number disposed of by per curiam opinions 3 Number set for reargument next term 0 Cases available for argument at beginning of term 81 Disposed of summarily after review was granted 1 Original cases set for argument 1 Cases reviewed and decided without oral argument 79 Total cases available for argument at start of next term 57 Number of written opinions of the Court 129 Opinions per curiam in argued cases 3 Number of lawyers admitted to practice as of October 1, 1990: On written motion 4,623 On oral motion 1,173 Total 5,796 *Includes 74, Original.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Security Notices Hearing Committee on Ways
    SOCIAL SECURITY NOTICES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 26, 2000 Serial 106±65 Printed for the use of the Committee on Ways and Means ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 67±603 CC WASHINGTON : 2000 VerDate 20-JUL-2000 13:31 Nov 14, 2000 Jkt 060010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 K:\HEARINGS\67603.TXT WAYS1 PsN: WAYS1 COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL ARCHER, Texas, Chairman PHILIP M. CRANE, Illinois CHARLES B. RANGEL, New York BILL THOMAS, California FORTNEY PETE STARK, California E. CLAY SHAW, JR., Florida ROBERT T. MATSUI, California NANCY L. JOHNSON, Connecticut WILLIAM J. COYNE, Pennsylvania AMO HOUGHTON, New York SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan WALLY HERGER, California BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JIM MCCRERY, Louisiana JIM MCDERMOTT, Washington DAVE CAMP, Michigan GERALD D. KLECZKA, Wisconsin JIM RAMSTAD, Minnesota JOHN LEWIS, Georgia JIM NUSSLE, Iowa RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts SAM JOHNSON, Texas MICHAEL R. MCNULTY, New York JENNIFER DUNN, Washington WILLIAM J. JEFFERSON, Louisiana MAC COLLINS, Georgia JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee ROB PORTMAN, Ohio XAVIER BECERRA, California PHILIP S. ENGLISH, Pennsylvania KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida WES WATKINS, Oklahoma LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas J.D. HAYWORTH, Arizona JERRY WELLER, Illinois KENNY HULSHOF, Missouri SCOTT MCINNIS, Colorado RON LEWIS, Kentucky MARK FOLEY, Florida A.L. SINGLETON, Chief of Staff JANICE MAYS, Minority Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY E. CLAY SHAW, JR., Florida, Chairman SAM JOHNSON, Texas ROBERT T. MATSUI, California MAC COLLINS, Georgia SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan ROB PORTMAN, Ohio JOHN S.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix A—Digest of Other White House Announcements
    Appendix A—Digest of Other White House Announcements The following list includes the President’s public Mrs. Bush attended a reception with the Coral schedule and other items of general interest an- Sea Commemorative Council and later greeted nounced by the Office of the Press Secretary and the American consulate community. not included elsewhere in this book. In the afternoon, the President and Mrs. Bush traveled to Singapore. January 1 In the evening, following their arrival, they In the morning, the President and Mrs. Bush went to the Shangri-La Hotel, their residence greeted the American consulate community at during their stay in Singapore. the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, their residence during their stay in Sydney, Australia, which began on January 4 December 31, 1991. President Bush then went In the morning, after an arrival ceremony at to Kirribilli House where he met with Prime Istana Palace, the President and Mrs. Bush paid Minister Paul Keating. a courtesy call on President and Mrs. Wee Kim In the afternoon, the President and Mrs. Bush Wee. The President later met at the palace with traveled to Canberra, Australia. Following an ar- Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and with the rival ceremony at RAAF Base Fairbairn, they Presidential business delegation. greeted the U.S. Embassy community at the resi- In the afternoon, the President went to the dence of U.S. Ambassador to Australia Melvin Westin Stamford Hotel where he attended a Sembler, which was their residence during their meeting of the Association of South East Asian stay in Canberra. Nations (ASEAN) Business Council.
    [Show full text]