IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Commonwealth of Virginia has launched an e-government solution that allows local government users to simultaneously query multiple state databases. It is projected to significantly reduce case processing time, associated worker costs and paper files for users while improving access, security and citizen satisfaction. The new application, Human Services Interface (HSI), was built by MITEM Corporation, a provider of integration software solutions and business applications. HSI, a Web-based query application, was initially created for social workers in Virginia localities to verify citizen eligibility for services. It is the first enterprise interoperability solution to be hosted by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) under Virginia's "G2G Enterprise Services Interface" (GESI) initiative, to provide a vehicle for local governments to efficiently retrieve data from multiple state systems.

A request for assistance to VITA from the g2g-Virginia group, a consortium of human services and IT professionals from thirty local governments, led to HSI's development and implementation.

"We project time savings of 30 to 50 minutes per case reviewed through the use of this significant new application," noted Branka Al-Hamdy, IT Strategic Planning for Arlington County and chairperson of g2g-va. "This will lead to annual state-wide savings for local users of 500,000 -720,000 hours in case worker time, or $15-19 million dollars per year, and $1-1.8 million in annual paper and ink savings. Just as importantly, HSI allows localities to reengineer processing, allowing for even greater benefits, not just in saving of worker time, but also in better customer service."

Previously, a citizen application for food stamps, unemployment, or other services required a local social worker to verify eligibility by checking and then compiling records from agencies such as Department of Motor Vehicles, Virginia Employment Commission, and Department of Social Services.

Now, that same local worker will make one online request. HSI formats the query to comply with a variety of legacy systems and uses extensive business logic to search appropriate data fields across departments, producing a single integrated report and reducing review time by up to 90 percent. HSI also makes it easier to detect fraud or erroneous data. A search might reveal two social security numbers related to a single person, prompting an investigation.

"Our goal at VITA is to make the Commonwealth the model of information technology in government," said Lem Stewart, CIO of the Commonwealth. "We continually strive to improve service and savings benefits for our citizens and customers. HSI helps us achieve that vision by improving services to the citizens of Virginia and saving taxpayers money."

HSI is built on MITEM's integration engine, MitemView. This platform integrates with legacy applications, middleware technology, application serves, web services, and myriad vendor-specific interfaces.

Quelle: Public CIO, 12.04.2005