Modernized Operations are a Foundation for Agile, Innovative Government
Comprehensive digital transformation can help organizations automate and streamline operations across business units while continuing to support necessary paper-based processes.
Digital transformation is a complex but essential journey for government at all levels, from state and local organizations to federal agencies. As manual and paper-based processes become used less and the government workforce looks to do more with fewer resources, modernization is key.
“Government agencies need to balance availability with confidentiality and data integrity. That is what digital transformation can help with,” said Mark Sinanian, vice president of marketing at Canon USA.
While there’s an urgent need to digitize inefficient paper processes, printing and scanning still play a pivotal role in supporting the constituent experience. Governments need to check all boxes: Digitizing all they can, while supporting the print and scan processes that continue to be necessary.
The Digital Opportunity
Why is digital transformation essential to today’s government operations at all levels?
“Digital experiences empower government employees, giving them ready access to the data and documents they need,” Sinanian said. “That has the potential to benefit the taxpayers, through more efficient processes, and has the potential to benefit constituents — the people who are trying to access government services.”
Any process that relies on documents and paper today can benefit from upgrading and automating. “These processes can be found throughout government,” Sinanian said. “They have tons of paper and microfilm, from birth and death records to meeting minutes, permits and applications.”
With intelligent data capture, a variety of manual workflows — from human resources to accounts payable to approvals — could be improved by automation.
Challenges to Modernization
Despite the advantages of digital modernization, potential hurdles can cause some in government to shy away. They may be concerned, for example, about records management. Government needs access to documents reaching back many years, and budgeting for and undertaking that backfile conversion can be an intimidating prospect.
Data privacy factors in as well. “There are privacy laws,Footnote1 where, for example, government agencies have an obligation to give a person back their data whenever they ask for it,” Sinanian said.
Digitization needs to support compliance efforts, and of course privacy and security go hand in hand. When a document goes digital, “who do I let query that document? How do I make sure that access is limited, while still allowing for convenient access to the documents?” Sinanian said. With the right approach, digital transformation can help with these concerns: Making information available when needed, while still implementing security features.Footnote2
“Digital experiences empower government employees, giving them ready access to the data and documents they need. That has the potential to benefit the taxpayers, through more efficient processes, and has the potential to benefit constituents.”
Mark Sinanian, Vice President of Marketing, Canon USA
The Way Forward
A robust approach to modernization can deliver controls to implement around digital documents, while also providing security features around printing and scanning — paper processes that will remain a part of the government landscape for some time to come.
“A document archiving system, for example, may include security features users can implement to protect documents from unauthorized access and improve accessibility and collaboration at the same time,” Sinanian said. Such a system can deliver least-privilege access controls, so that only those with the proper authority can view various documents.
With document-management capabilities, a modernized solution can help ease the burden on government workers, saving them time and effort. It can also provide the potential to help streamline interactions for constituents, helping the government to meet their needs efficiently and while using security measures.
But paper isn’t going away entirely. Even in a digitized system, government offices will need to print a variety of documents and will also need to scan paper records to turn them into digital assets.
A modernized solution can include devices that are running with security controls. It can offer centralized device management, giving IT teams ready control over print and scan machines. And it can support access control mechanisms to help limit paper copies from falling into the wrong hands.
When people are printing and scanning, “you need to implement security features protecting the outputs,” Sinanian said. That means implementing security features around both the digitized document and paper documents coming off the printer. “Access controls and encrypted storage can help users protect the integrity of that information throughout the lifecycle.”
How Canon Can Help
While best known for its printing and scanning capabilities, Canon also has a range of solutions supporting digital modernization overall.
Its enterprise content management systems enable the right people to access the right files quickly, which can help government agencies streamline operations, implement security features, help with compliance efforts, and use physical space more efficiently.
“This solution offers intelligent capture and workflow automation, as well as encrypted storage, with backup capabilities in parallel in support of business continuity,” Sinanian said. A content management system also simplifies the storage and indexing of documents, helping to make it quick and easy for government workers to find the data they need, whether it’s coming from structured or unstructured sources.
Furthermore, an imageFORMULA scanner, which can be used as part of a backfile solution, is compliant with the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative, or FADGI, which can help meet the government standard for safe and accurate document preservation.
Canon’s document management solutions also provide security features, with managed detection and response. Multifunction devices that can inform the system feed into system logs, “and those logs become data points for software to investigate what’s going on,” Sinanian said. If this feature is activated when there is unusual activity, it is automatically flagged for review, which helps with the security of document systems while helping to streamline efforts for cybersecurity teams.
In tandem with enterprise content management, Canon Office Cloud is a FedRAMP-authorized (level 2 moderate) print and scan and device management service. These services help with the security of print and scan devices by confirming they are operating with compatible security controls. By employing a FedRAMP authorized service, government agencies can know the cloud service is compliant with NIST guidelines and audited for compliance.
“Canon MFP devices offer a multitude of standard security features, such as the ability to detect whether or not the firmware has been tampered with,” Sinanian said. “If it has been tampered with, the device will restart with a backup version.”
IT can leverage the solution for device management, using it to easily identify and turn off open ports that can present a security concern. Access controls likewise can help limit access to the MFP.
“Who has access to the device, and what can they do at that device? Can they print? Can they scan? If they can scan, where can they scan to? Where can they print from? All that comes into play from a security point of view,” Sinanian said. A robust solution gives the organization that fine-grained level of control so that administrators can configure devices in support of security efforts. Canon multifunction devices can be configured to support various National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements, such as SP 800-171, SP 800-172, and SP 800-88 r1.
Finally, there’s monitoring in support of detection and response. “When you’re dealing with hardware endpoints, you need reportability — some visibility into how a system is currently configured,” Sinanian said.
“In this time of hybrid workflows, remote workers have got to be able to stay in sync with the organization. Scan and print with security features can work directly in support of that.”
Mark Sinanian, Vice President of Marketing, Canon USA
Impacts for Government
Digital transformation has taken on new urgency with the rise of remote work, and “in this time of hybrid workflows, remote workers have got to be able to stay in sync with the organization,” Sinanian said. “Scan and print with security features can work directly in support of that.”
When people are working from home, they also need a means to collaborate with documents and data while implementing security features. “Somebody may want to share a document with the rest of the team: Maybe they want to be able to scan it into a OneDrive or even Microsoft Teams,” Sinanian said. “Many of Canon’s solutions can be used with those kinds of platforms, in order to provide that ability.”
Finally, it’s worth noting the disaster-recovery benefits of digital modernization. Worsening weather events can make paper repositories inaccessible, and yet government organizations need to know they are able to get to their mission-critical records.
“When you’ve digitized everything, when it’s stored and backed up, you can be up and running,” Sinanian said. All this in turn can help government workers to be more productive at a time when government needs all hands on deck. “For the people in government who interact with the public, digitization can give them the ability to get people the information they need when and where they need it,” Sinanian said.
This can support government technology leaders in their efforts to elevate the constituent experience, which is mandated at the federal level, through directives like the Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery. Many state and local governments are likewise trying to raise the bar, and digitization can help support that total experience.
“It’s the user experience, the worker experience, the customer experience,” Sinanian said. “That’s what all this technology can do for you.”
Footnote
- Canon U.S.A. does not provide legal counsel or regulatory compliance consultancy, including without limitation, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, GLBA, Check 21 or the USA Patriot Act. Each customer must have its own qualified counsel determine the advisability of a particular solution as it relates to regulatory and statutory compliance.
- Canon products offer certain security features, yet many variables can impact the security of your devices and data. Canon does not warrant that use of its security features or recommendations will prevent security issues. Customers should perform their own due diligence and consult with their security expert to determine what security features to implement for their organization. Nothing herein should be construed as legal or regulatory advice concerning applicable laws; customers must have their own qualified counsel determine the feasibility of a solution as it relates to regulatory and statutory compliance. Some security features may impact functionality/performance; you may want to test these settings in your environment.
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