OMB Memorandum M-19-21 kicked off what was meant to be a transformational change in government record-keeping. The Memo outlined a three-year push toward a paperless mandate to be in effect by December 31, 2022. However the deadline has now been pushed to June 30, 2024. Recent news regarding the possession of Classified documents presents an opportunity for introspection into the root causes of the delays in digital record keeping.

The impracticality of paper records became clear in 2020 when the government workforce at large began working from their homes due to the pandemic. Covid was cited by many agencies as the cause for not meeting the 2022 paperless deadline. However, the need for digital record keeping becomes even more urgent due to the embedded reliance on remote workforces which continues in many agencies today.

Paper and other non-electronic storage of records is a taxpayer expenditure of millions of dollars and thousands of hours, according to the OMB memo of 2019. There remains the false impression that eliminating paper processes is a change management challenge. Intimating that there exists a resistance to change detracts attention from the root causes and delays curative actions from being more rapidly deployed. Frankly, we have never met a person who longed for more paperwork!

Many FedRAMP cloud-first solutions exist to automate the creation and control of digital documents. Every agency is advised to actively seek solutions to eliminate manual data entry, printing, storage and destruction of paper records. COTS Saas solutions on the FedRAMP Marketplace present an iterative and rapidly achievable path to paperless government on an application by application basis. Look to automate and control the creation, review, approval and distribution of digital documents only to those with the “need to know” and authorizations required to perform their appropriate oversight duties. Start secure, start digital, and stay digital.

“Many of our clients continue to be amazed that they are no longer required to print reams of paper to meet their requirements under the Purchase Card Programs,” said Mike Tocci, President of Paperless Innovations.

“The Actus P-Card Program Compliance Automation Management is just one example of the many commercial SaaS applications delivering FedRAMP secure solutions that assist agencies to meet the updated NARA deadline for paperless record-keeping while eliminating costs and burdens on the distributed workforce.”

Acquisition management below the micro-purchase threshold is low hanging fruit for rapid adoption without change management. The workforce spends inordinate time and money attempting to ensure compliance with acquisition policy and regulations.