President Joe Biden has signed an Executive Order that requires 17 federal agencies to streamline their processes, improve the efficiency of their systems, and finally bring important government services online.
“In recent years, the annual paperwork burden imposed by executive departments and agencies…on the public has been in excess of 9 billion hours,” the Executive Order reads. “That number is too high.”
The new requirements apply to High Impact Service Providers (HIPs) as identified by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). A list of HIPs provided by the Performance.gov website identifies the Departments of Agriculture, Education, and State; the Social Security, Small Business, and General Service Administrations; and others.
“The Federal Government must design and deliver services in a manner that people of all abilities can navigate,” Biden says in the order. “We must use technology to modernize government and implement services that are simple to use, accessible, equitable, protective, transparent, and responsive for all people of the United States.”
The specific changes referenced in the order include making it easier to file taxes online, using “innovative technologies at airport security checkpoints to reduce passenger wait times,” updating the Fish and Wildlife Service website, and testing the ability to use Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits online.
OMB Deputy Director of Management Jason Miller tells Protocol that “All of these actions are near term in nature, meaning that they will generally be completed in the coming months, within one year.” Few of the order’s mandates reference specific time frames, however, and the ones that do range from 90 to 180 days.
