If you’re looking for an example of how “big government” puts government forms automation to work to ease burdens, accelerate public service, and reduce costs, look no further than Sacramento, CA, as a recent Techwire Insider article pointed out.

In the article, the California Secretary of State’s CIO, Rita Gass, jokingly asked tech vendors to give her department a breather until after the November elections. Who can blame her, considering the transformation she and her staff have taken on?

During the press session held at Techwire’s Q3 2018 Industry Briefing, one task CIO Gass called out as needing immediate attention was making sure the state’s election-related IT infrastructure works smoothly while the polls are open and beyond. That dovetails with cybersecurity, a top priority for Ms. Gass and her staff, along with “delivering online election-related applications and providing voters the tools to assist in decision-making,” as she puts it.

One achievement?  Standing up the department’s updated election night results website and seeing “zero reported critical issues.”

On other fronts, her staff has seen gratifying results from applying the right technologies to the job:

Revolutionizing the state’s system of manual business filings into an automated online function is another notch in the SoS’ belt, she noted, processing more than 10 million business-application transactions, a function that it streamlined through automation.

 How government forms automation helped

The transformational technology behind that success? We’re able to say SimpliGov’s government forms automation platform made it possible.

California’s embrace of SimpliGov’s solutions has gone all the way to the top at the CA SoS. One real-world torture test of our automation capabilities? Dealing with the inundation of filings driven by cannabis legalization in the state this year.

The automated government forms and workflows deployed by the state proved to be easy to design and publish,  with e-forms able to self-guide registrants through the process of filling them out without live assistance. Supporting it all? A platform that satisfied the SoS’ stringent requirements for a solution empowering exceptional speed-to-market and scalability.

CIO Gass’ vision has earned her plaudits nationwide. She was recognized as one of Government Technology magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers; her rapid implementation of a Cloud-based recruiting system resulted in an IT Recognition Award from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.

In other words, she’s a client we’re privileged to work with and a true innovation driver. The insights we gain from collaborations like these make our government forms automation platform even more capable over time in meeting the real demands of agencies and public sector organizations everywhere.