As I look back on what the last 8 months have been like, it’s become very obvious as to just how much of our lives have shifted from needing and wanting to be in a physical office or space to our lives revolving around the internet. Almost overnight, it became far too dangerous to go into the office, run errands, or even pick up your morning coffee.
As a result, we as a world have been forced to shift. There is no place this is more true than with local government offices who went from operating as normal one day to being forced to move everything digital the next, making some digital projects less of a luxury and more of a necessity.
Work Faster With Cloud Technology
Just like any other organization, local governments needed to find a way to communicate and work together, and cloud technology was the answer for some states. Brandon Williams, who is the Eagle County (CO) Innovation and Strategy Manager explained that that cloud technology has allowed, “agencies to quickly throw together electronic reports, where [in the past] we would have generated a PDF.” “We’ve been generating Google Sites instead that have allowed us to pull in tools like maps, locations and dropdown menus for testing-specific information.” He also added that the platform is mobile-friendly, allowing their staff to update information in real time, which is critical during the everchanging environment the pandemic has brought.
Stay Ahead of the Curve With AI Powered Tech
At the very beginning of the pandemic, the federal government looked to the scientific community to create an AI tool that could help them answer questions regarding COVID-19 faster. What they did was take over 59,000 scientific articles about the virus and used AI to locate online articles that should be included in a database for the government, private sector, and academic institutions to use. This allowed leaders around the nation to respond to the public health crisis far quicker than ever before.
Registration Goes Virtual
In some states, the DMV fast tracked their online driver’s license renewal platform. Allowing for residents to fill out their license renewal application at home online and then book an appointment to complete the process at their local DMV. Wisconsin is one of those states that launched this service, and it worked VERY well. My license was set to expire this month, so I needed to renew it. Filling out the application was a breeze and took close to five minutes to fill out, print, and then book an appointment. Once at the DMV, it was refreshing to be able to walk right up to the counter, hand over my application, take my new photo, and complete my eye exam. I was in and out in seven minutes.
Digitizing Online Records
When the pandemic first hit, chances are your first thoughts were not how courts and land records offices are going to handle records access, but it is and was a huge disruption. Historically, accessing records online might not have been a top priority for most states and counties, but during a pandemic with many forced to work from home, digitized records have seemed more of a need than a want. Check out this blog to learn more about how some counties are using CARES Act funding to pay for this technology.
Eventually the public health and safety crisis will fade, but by then Americans will have already become accustomed to shopping, communicating, and working online. After COVID-19, our society’s expectations of paperless, online, and secure and always-open services will only continue.
Here at Extract we work closely with both state and county government offices to index and redact their documents. Whether you are back in office or still at home, our platform empowers your staff to spend more time on important tasks than manual data entry or redaction. If you are interested in learning more about our workflow automation solutions, please reach out today.
Sources:
https://www.govtech.com/civic/COVID-19-Pushes-Digital-Services-from-Luxury-to-Necessity.html
About the Author: Taylor Genter Taylor is the Marketing Specialist at Extract with experience in data analytics, graphic design, and both digital and social media marketing. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Taylor enjoys analyzing people’s behaviors and attitudes to find out what motivates them, and then curating better ways to communicate with them.