Your government agency & the 21st Century IDEA Act

On December 20, 2018, The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA) was signed into law. The IDEA Act creates a set of minimum functionality and security standards that federal agencies must meet to improve digital interactions between citizens and government. To achieve this goal, federal agencies were required to implement electronic signatures, modernize websites, and create accessible digital experiences for all citizens through online services provided by government agencies.

Government agencies must now have provided U.S. Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with a plan to accelerate electronic signatures as established under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN). To help your agency track digital experiences with citizens, we’ve put together a 21st Century IDEA Act Checklist to break down the compliance requirement changes:

21st Century IDEA Act checklist

June 2019

Electronic signatures

• A report to U.S. Congress and the OMB was due, with a plan to accelerate electronic signatures.

Government services and forms

• OMB provided guidance to agencies to identify and prioritize public, paper-based, and in-person government services with the greatest impact for digitization and a cost and schedule estimate.

New and redesigned websites and services should conform to the following standards:

• Meet accessibility standards and regulation for individuals with disabilities (based on Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act)
• Maintains a consistent appearance
• Does not duplicate any legacy websites
• Includes search functionality
• Uses an industry standard secure connection
• Is designed around user needs
• Allows for user customization
• Is mobile-friendly

December 2019

Existing agency websites and digital services

• Each agency should have submitted a report to U.S. Congress with:
  • Prioritized list of websites and digital services that required modernization
  • Estimated cost and schedule for modernization

Annual progress reports due to Congress and OMB on website and digital services modernization

December 2020

• All public-facing forms were required to have a digital option

How OneSpan helped government agencies digitize their signing processes with e-signatures

Hundreds of U.S. government agencies across all levels rely on OneSpan Sign electronic signatures to digitize and automate their manual, paper-based processes in support of their digital transformation strategies. Moreover, agencies trust OneSpan’s proven FedRAMP-authorized solution to meet their highest cloud security requirements. Learn more about how leading government agencies are using OneSpan Sign to keep their signing processes digital:

• United States Census Bureau leverages OneSpan Sign in a FedRAMP authorized environment to obtain signatures for employee performance reviews. US Census Bureau has saved $1.2M per year in paper costs, and the turnaround times for review cycles were cut by 70%.
• APHIS, a USDA agency, is using OneSpan Sign to digitize processes such as applications for veterinary health certificates and livestock import/export permits. During a recent Avian Influenza outbreak, APHIS field employees and veterinarians were able to quickly isolate the incident using a digital process and complete time-sensitive processes in real time. 
• GSA removed paper from its procurement processes by integrating e-signatures with its e-contracting portal. Since leveraging OneSpan Sign, GSA’s contract processing times were shortened from one year to a few days while adhering to regulatory compliance standards.
• US Army modernized its recruiting process using OneSpan Sign by allowing recruits to complete the entire process on a mobile device with the recruiter. US Army compressed the 6-week recruiting process to a couple of days.
• Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) leveraged OneSpan Sign to automate its acquisition package for a fighter squadron. Since implementing e-signatures, JCS reduced the squadron acquisition costs by $6M and manpower hours for action officers.

Partner with OneSpan to accelerate digitization

OneSpan has been supporting government organizations in their digital transformation initiatives for over 20 years. Our team has decades of experience implementing e-signatures in government across a wide range of use cases, including high-volume government-to-business (G2B) transactions and large-scale enterprise deployments – both on-premise and on a FedRAMP-authorized cloud. OneSpan understands the unique requirements of government agencies with deep domain, industry and implementation experience to optimize e-signature workflows, increase efficiency, and improve adoption rates. The time is now to move from paper-based to a fully digitized processes.

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