From shuffling paper to streamlining services: Digitisation delivers efficiency, security, and sustainability

From getting forms signed at the local council level, right through to dealing with state and federal government agencies, a lot of paperwork gets pushed around by citizens and public sector workers. Sure, this ‘paperwork’ may not use much paper these days, but there are still a lot of clunky forms to process, and endless contracts to store and manage.

And, depending on the situation, many of these forms and contracts contain sensitive data. In applying for government support, for example, a citizen may need to share private health records, financial information, and personal details. As part of their application, they may have to deal with multiple departments, which often require them to fill out the same information on different forms.

Finding ways to streamline these processes, and make them more secure, is imperative in today’s increasingly data-driven and digital world. It’s why more government agencies are turning to agreement systems like Docusign.  

Digitisation delivers key benefits

Digitising the form-filling process turns it from a cumbersome, time-consuming experience to a simple, streamlined one. We wrote recently about how waiting in line at a government department should be a thing of the past, and how citizens today have high expectations when it comes to completing tasks like permit applications or license renewals. Digitisation delivers on these expectations, and it also delivers a range of benefits for the government departments, too.

For starters, digitisation drives internal efficiencies. When forms — plus the citizen data they capture — are all digitised and centralised, public sector staff can quickly and easily find the information they need, when they need it. Duplication of data becomes a thing of the past. As does duplication of effort. 

Then there are the security gains that come with using a system like Docusign to handle agreements. Docusign protects and secures data throughout the agreement lifecycle, and is compliant with government standards. All agreements that are signed and managed through Docusign come with:

• Full audit trail, including details on when it was opened, viewed and signed; as well as their geo-location, if the signer agreed to allow access to their location.

• Certificate of completion, including specific details about each signer on the document, key event timestamps, the signer’s IP address and other identifying information.

• Tamper-evident seal, using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), an industry-standard encryption management technology, to show that the document hasn’t been tampered with or altered since the date of signing.

Once complete, agreements are securely stored in digital repositories, making them a lot more secure than their paper-based counterparts. Docusign ticks all of the regulatory boxes required in government, such as ISO 27001 certification, 99.99% availability, SSAE security and privacy standards, PCI DSS compliance and bank grade security.

And, last but not least, digitisation helps government agencies work towards sustainability targets. Transforming business processes helps save time, reduce complexity, and drives efficiency, all while minimising environmental impact. It’s a triple win.

So where do you start?

Transitioning from manual, paper-based processes to digital processes can feel hard. When planning your transition, strive for small steps that deliver value, fast. Docusign is here to help — we can work with you to identify and plan for the implementation of quick-win projects that address your most immediate pain points, before rolling out digital agreement solutions more broadly across your government organisation. 

To learn more about how Docusign is helping to digitise agreement processes in government, visit Docusign for Government or get in touch.