A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report has found that the federal government uses 9,858 unique forms and handles more than 106 billion forms on an annual basis to process government services requests of U.S. citizens.
The report titled Government Digitization: Transforming Government to Better Serve Americans showed that the public spent 10.5 billion hours on government paper forms in 2021 and the cost to citizens of using such forms reached $117 billion.
The document also listed areas where agencies can prioritize digitization: individual income tax return; health records; passport applications and renewals; social security applications; and green card applications.
According to the report, government digitization could generate approximately $1 trillion annually worldwide and help agencies eliminate waste, reduce costs, enhance efficiency, build up resilience and improve the ability to serve Americans.
“Increased government digitization doesn’t just mean saved time and money, it also means providing greater accountability and access to underserved communities when it comes to utilizing government services,” said Jordan Crenshaw, vice president of the Chamber Technology Engagement Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The report offers recommendations for Congress to advance government services digitization, such as using its oversight authority to determine barriers to government modernization and continuing to appropriate funding for the Technology Modernization Fund.
