Tag Archives: Digital Signatures

IRS Uses Digital Signatures for Improved Public Experiences

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At the start of March 2022, the IRS launched the Taxpayer Experience Office (TEO) to improve taxpayers’ experience with digital tools, such as fully transparent accounts, expanded e-File and payment options, digital signatures, and secure two-way messaging. TEO is working with their IT, digitalization, and policy shops to identify projects that will produce the most modernization, according to agency officials. The four offices are meant to coordinate the expedition of either internal or external processes, depending on the ROI, with TEO handling the former and the Enterprise Digitalization and Case Management Office (EDCMO) the latter. “For its part, EDCMO focuses on taking paper processes digital where the cost savings are highest and the processing hours and employees in seats lowest”.[1] The main goal is to optimize business processes and technology, which normally begins with small digital transformations, but EDCMO already achieved a 178% ROI in its first year, which indicates a promising future for their endeavors.[1]

Opportunities in the Field of Digital Modernization

The IRS issued the first wave of job postings for more than 200 technologists back in March of 2022, as it plans to hire to continue modernizing IT. Positions range from entry-level to supervisory across system development, architecture, engineering, cybersecurity, IT operations, network services and customer support.

Desired skillsets are cloud, zero-trust security, low- and no-code enterprise platforms, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and NoSQL databases. The IRS faces a daunting, largely paper-based backlog of tax returns every year, so shifting to digital will help streamline to make these yearly processes run smoother and faster. As was the case with COVID-19 recovery, the IRS is also called upon to administer relief, like Economic Impact Payments and advance payments of the Child Tax Credit. They are also instances of processes that could be made more efficient by implementing digital solutions because of the quicker turnaround that those platforms provide in comparison to manual, paper-based ones.[1]

Digital Signature Service Authorization and Adoption within Government Agencies

The IRS is a notable example, but agencies within the Department of Defense are leaning into the trend of digital signature use as well. This initiative requires an effort in tandem from the industry side and the government side to achieve the necessary compliances for ensuring proper security across platforms. One of the main authorizations that these government entities and digital services must adhere to is the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which provides a standardized approach to security authorizations for Cloud Service Offerings. According to the FedRAMP Program Management Office, there are two ways to authorize a Cloud Service Offering (CSO) through FedRAMP—via an individual agency or the Joint Authorization Board (JAB). The authorization process involves selecting an authorization process, preparation, authorization, and then continuous monitoring as part of the main steps. There are currently 20 Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) under the status of “ready,” 96 “in process,” and 309 classified as “authorized” through the program. Digital signature solutions, being cloud-based services, must adhere to this type of authorization to be considered for use within many government agencies. As more agencies vouch for these services and work together with CSPs to secure certifications, more agencies, in turn, are also able to adopt them to achieve maximum efficiency.[2]

What Can Digital Signatures Help Accomplish?

Digital signatures greatly reduce the time spent during transactions. As noted across articles and input from the most successful signature providers featured on LinkedIn, they can greatly improve the day-to-day for businesses operating in a post-pandemic hybrid world, and the same benefits apply to government agencies.

Most notably, trusted digital signatures can help in the following:

Security: A digital signature confirms that all signers are who they claim to be, and it prevents retroactive alterations to the signed document or tampering in general.

Time: Signing a document with ink does not take any longer than signing with a digital signature, but the time it takes to move a wet signature document along to each recipient can take days or even weeks. In comparison, a digitally signed document can be delivered in minutes via email.

Collaboration: Working remote or employing physical distancing interfere with the ability to come together for document transactions. Even with the re-appearance of in-person operations, digital signatures allow quicker turnaround and provide the additional convenience of eliminating the need to convene in person.

The Environment: From the number of trees that go into printed sheets of paper to the amount of carbon emissions that can be saved, digital signatures are the green alternative to paper-based wet signatures.

Legality: Digital signatures uphold in legality across the US and globally, specifically by adhering to the E-Sign Act of 2000 and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).

 

Check out this on-demand webinar for more information on this series and how Adobe can support your organization’s digital transformation initiatives.

 

Resources:

[1] Nyczepir, Dave. “IRS Teams Old and New Working in Tandem on IT Modernization.” FedScoop, March 21, 2022. https://fedscoop.com/irs-teams-it-modernization-2022/.

[2] How to Become FedRAMP Authorized. Accessed July 5, 2023. https://www.fedramp.gov/.

The Advantage of Electronic Signature Services

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The modern workspace is constantly evolving to keep pace with customer demands. Primarily, the most valuable asset a team may have at its disposal is time. Efficiency the word that keeps organizations running, and the tools a team employs dictates how effective those processes are. When the conversation turns to contracts and signatures, there is only one real solution for the modern business, that being the implementation of electronic signatures. How much more value could electronic signature services be for your team? Let’s discuss the inherent value of such a system.

Change and Efficiency

Adobe Electronic Signature Services Blog Embedded Image 2022Initially the most dramatic change will be the lack of physical documentation. Change can be difficult for any organization; however most electronic signature services provide their API (application programming interface). Some solutions require a purchase or fee to access, while others provide it as a complimentary service. With a technologies API, your team can seamlessly integrate digital document preparation to already existing programs being used daily. This could be anything from a document management service or your team’s primary email application. This ease of access not only promotes more use by your workforce, but also allows them to access virtual documents and PDFs that they already use for other purposes.

Understanding Integrations

With your electronic signature service now integrated into your teams’ applications of choice, each user now has the capability convert any document or contract into an interactable form. This process is fairly simple to do and usually does not need to be repeated once finished per document. The real value now comes from how quickly those contracts can be sent and signed by customers. Electronic signatures provide two major values for you. The freedom for customers to interact and sign contracts from anywhere, at their convenience. As well as additional document security that is inherent with using such a service. Traditionally electronic signatures based their legality off a user’s identification through either a business-related email address or other valid account. However, there are several additional verification methods available to confirm the signer’s identity. These range from knowledge-based authentication to phone verification, to password-based security. These options can usually be freely selected on a document-by-document basis, providing an authenticated audit report for the documents being signed. This creates a situation where not only are contracts being signed more efficiently, but they are also validated beyond what a traditional paper form would be.

Ease of Interaction

In a sense, the largest value add from such a service is the customer’s perspective. Not only are they receiving critical documents moments after they are sent, but they also can interact and sign these forms with minimal effort. Many of these electronic signature services allow customers to interact and sign forms without any type of additional software being required. If the customer has a device that allows access to their professional email, then that customer has the capability to complete and sign the forms in question. In an evolving, modern workplace most individuals have access to a business smart phone, which is the only asset they need to complete a signature process.

Tracking and Management

With so many documents being sent for signature, you might be wondering what options there are in terms of record keeping. Electronic signature services rely very heavily not only legally authenticating the users involved but also with access and document security. Many of these services provide a direct option to store documents perpetually, this allows easy access and a simple way to filter and find whatever form is in question. However, this simply is not the limit of the options available to you. Through an API (application programming interface) they can be curated to do all sorts of things with signed documents. This includes distributing copies of forms into local servers, or alternative storage options that your team already has deployed. The authenticity of these files can be validated at any time once acquired. This also confirms that no additional changes or adjustments have been made to a contract, once its signing process is complete.

 

Many government teams already use email and messaging services to communicate between team members and customers; so why should your contracts be treated any differently? For more information on electronic signatures and services, check out the on-demand webinar, “Refresh Digital Document Workflows with Powerful E-Signature and PDF Capabilities.”

Lasting Shifts in Secure Electronic Signature Usage Across the Government Sphere

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The State of Telework in Government

The ongoing pandemic has affected every aspect of our day-to-day business operations, which have mostly transitioned across the board from manual, in person operations to complete digital ones. Currently, the Federal Government’s nationwide operating status remains “open with maximum telework flexibilities to all current telework eligible employees, pursuant to direction from agency heads.” Many federal, state, and local governments have taken steps during the pandemic to allow greater workforce autonomy, including the Department of Defense (DOD). As such, “the DOD is just days away from launching its high-security version of Microsoft Office365, dubbed DOD365, which is designed to replace the current telework system.” Seeing the DOD in particular invest in more telework infrastructure indicates lasting changes and advancement in technology across government, as they tend to have the most restrictive security policies.

Continued Uptick in Adoption of New Technology

During this past year of changing trends in the workforce, electronic signatures and digital document processes immediately became a large focus of modernization and software solutions adoption, as this functionality is central to the regular workings of agencies across the government sphere. Many businesses had to close temporarily and many agencies had to immediately put telework plans in place, therefore necessitating a need for electronic signature solutions to continue regular functionality and deliver services to the public. The use of electronic signatures continues to increase, building upon layers of the previous adoption. At the beginning of June 2021, “The New York State Legislature passed The Electronic Signatures and Records Act, authorizing the use of electronic signatures on funeral and cemetery documents.” Additionally, “in light of the COVID-19 crisis, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York also wants to make pledging institutions aware that it will accept pledges of loan collateral that includes electronic signatures on loan documentation.”

Adobe Electronic Signature Blog Embedded Image 2021The Modernization Strategy for the Immediate Future

Moving forward, since the importance of technology has been proven many times over by recent global events, most agencies (most notably U.S. Space Force) are pledging to become a “digitally fluent” workforce so that “a person at any level of the organization [can] effectively select and use the appropriate tools and technologies to interpret information, discover meaning, design content, construct knowledge, and communicate ideas in a digitally connected world.” Digital literacy is essential for successful operations with technology so deeply embedded within current workplaces. In a recent plan for modernization, USSF indicated that “by becoming a Digital Service, we have the potential to be more proficient, efficient, and agile.” As such, “through this digital transformation, we will foster an environment that incubates quick-turn, innovative solutions in every aspect of capability development.” Agencies have been encouraged to put together similar plans for modernization as another bout of changes in the way we work come around.

Justification for Ongoing Use of Digital Solutions

Although the pandemic was a major driving force in adopting various digital solutions, such as electronic signature platforms, there are many reasons for agencies to continue their use. One major factor is the experience that the public receives from the government. In an increasingly fast-paced and technology-heavy world, citizens come to expect a degree of modernity and ease of use. It is no longer feasible to conduct all transactions on paper with wet signatures, and the public expects to be able to access services on laptops, desktops, or even mobile. Traditionally, the government has been less up to date when it comes to technology compared to the commercial sphere, for example. However, in their recent plan, USSF indicated, “we must leverage our industry and governmental partnerships to ensure the digital infrastructure we rely on can meet modern demands. In addition, we must undergo a cultural transformation in conjunction with our digital transformation efforts.” These digital transformation efforts are not all new, but they are advancing at a faster pace now due to demand for easier access and increased efficacy.

Digital Solutions and Security Requirements

In addition to demand from the public, it must be noted that security also entails increased modernization to avert the latest threats. According to USSF, “our data networks must be bandwidth-rich while also being reliable throughout the spectrum of conflict and secure across multiple security levels.” They indicate that the following requirements must be fulfilled for all technological options: “Our shared data repositories must also be visible and accessible to those who need it and secured against those who don’t. With this robust digital infrastructure as a foundation, we will establish a trusted, understandable, collaborative environment that incorporates the user tools and applications to enable secure interaction with protected categories of data.” Furthermore, the “USSF must support a world in which we are no longer bound to a single physical location,” so it seems telework and the digital solutions that accompany it to maintain regular business operations are here to stay.

 

Watch the on-demand recordings from our 8-part Adobe Sign webinar series, Transform Paperless Processes with Electronic Signatures, as our team of Adobe Product Specialists cover how Adobe Sign enables federal, state, and local government agencies to improve efficiencies, automate processes, and ensure compliance through a paperless signing experience. Check out the on-demand webinars today to discover more on how to eliminate the hassle of printing, signing, and scanning documents with e-signatures and more!

Telework and Digital Signatures in the Government Sphere

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With a majority of the workforce moving to telework where possible, innovation and a shift to digital workflows have not only become goals but requirements for successful continuation of day to day operations. Since most individuals are no longer working in a communal office environment, technology implementation is now essential for the creation, management, and transfer of documents to continue without delay. As such, tools for electronic signatures, document creation, and secure sharing or storage are rising quickly and widely within the government sphere.

Adobe Government Telework Blog ImageFrom Necessity Blooms Innovation

The move to digitize has been ongoing, but major moves have been driven largely by necessity recently. According to a Fed Scoop interview with Jay Bellissimo, General Manager, U.S. Public and Federal Market at IBM, this shift “illustrates the potential to transform government faster than many would have thought possible.” In fact, “because of the urgency around the pandemic, [public sector leaders] have been able to realize benefits in almost real-time — especially those who have implemented technology that allows direct constituent engagement, freeing up employees to address pressing issues,” he says in a new podcast produced by FedScoop and underwritten by IBM (Fedscoop)

Efficient Telework Solutions

When most agencies transitioned to teleworking, the situation presented an immediate need to adopt solutions that addressed the challenges posed, in part, by not having the same direct interaction between employees or with the public. Documents that were normally handed off or placed on desks have to be delivered in another manner, and mail delivery is generally too slow to keep up with today’s demands for quick turnaround. Thus, tools for digital signature and routing became the new norm. These solutions, generally in the form of hosted web applications, can be tailored to fit each agency. Documents can be custom routed, securely signed, and sealed down to prevent tampering.

eSignatures in the State of Utah

One such government entity that has implemented the use of electronic signatures is the state of Utah, as part of the New Workplace Telework Initiative.  Lt. Governor Cox is “thrilled to see this teleworking program expand to all state agencies.” He continued in a statement published on the Utah.gov website, “rolling out expanded teleworking as an option for many more state employees means that everyone wins. Employees win. Managers win. Our air wins. Rural wins. The taxpayer wins.” Moving forward, “it is time to see our state workforce transition to this more sustainable, efficient, balanced model.” (Utah.gov)

This existing plan outlining telework practices for agencies within the State of Utah has proved especially helpful in the face of the current pandemic. In a video created by Utah State agencies, Public Safety Bureau Chief DPS Jona Whitesides indicated, “where we have a pandemic it’s been a little bit of a challenge to coordinate, communicate but also maintain social distancing. We’ve had to kind of step outside of the box and say—how can we do this virtually? Part of that has been that eSign really helped us.”

Currently, the State of Utah is “using eSign for what is called an ‘incident action plan,’ basically objectives on what we are going to accomplish in a response to COVID-19,” says Whitesides. (Jona Whitesides, Public Safety Bureau Chief DPS)

Adapting and Moving Forward

As telework practices continue across the United States, other agencies are finding similar ways to implement digital solutions, especially when it comes to document management and electronic signatures, to help both employees and the public complete essential tasks in a productive fashion. (Adobe Sign)

For more information on how Adobe Sign enables federal, state, and local government agencies to improve efficiencies, automate processes, and ensure compliance through a paperless signing experience, check out the on-demand webinars from our Adobe Sign Webinar Series, Embrace Seamless and Secure E-Signature Processes

IT TRENDS IN GOVERNMENT: The Cloud and Electronic Signatures

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Digital experiences are at the center of most services that citizens utilize day-to-day, and throughout government they can impact access to important services, such as healthcare, food aid, and housing.  In order to ensure that these services are adequately accessible to the public, proper measures must be taken to make content available across devices, adaptable for use by all users regardless of physical ability, and consistent in appearance. The best way to achieve digital experiences that adhere to the aforementioned criteria is to utilize the appropriate technology, such as form creation software and electronic signature platforms, which are becoming increasingly prevalent.

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