4 Ways eSignature Software Can Help Achieve the Paperless Government Mission

The paperless government mission is an effort to advance the movement towards reduced use of paper products towards the greater goal of reducing emissions and promoting sustainability. It came about after a White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs study found that paperwork costs the government about $38.7 billion and the public $117 billion every year. Pulp and paper is the third-largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land in the United States, releasing over 100 million kg of toxic pollution per year.

Most U.S. public sector organizations and governmental institutions are attempting to reduce their carbon footprints in a nationwide effort to improve public accountability and contribute to a greener society. A major way to do that that does not require a huge change is simply adopting eSignature software. Continue reading for 4 ways an eSignature solution can help your business achieve paperless goals and contribute to the movement towards environmental sustainability.

1. Adapting to a Digital-First Environment

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a massive shift in the way state agencies conduct business, communicate, and serve citizens. Public sector organizations of all sizes have had to adapt quickly to accommodate the need for fast, efficient digital operations. Many have integrated enterprise resource planning software to manage accounting, procurement, and other tasks more effectively. Most of these critical documents require signatures. Having to print documents, obtain necessary signatures, and scan them back onto the internet or distribute physical copies hinders the fast-paced nature of digital-first business and prevents businesses from being able to operate as efficiently as digital signature software allows.

In the words of Kevin Buehler and Allen Weinberg of McKinsey, “Rethink and digitize physical processes and footprints. Many organizations will need to rapidly reinvent processes that previously required physical documents, to become paperless. Enabling the submission of scanned copies for document verification and supporting contactless servicing capabilities (for example, by creating digital forms to replace physical forms and enabling electronic signature capture) will likely be key priorities.”

2. Reduced Waste and Pollution

According to Gartner, an average of 4 weeks is lost per year waiting on mislabeled, misfiled, or otherwise lost documents, most of which require signatures. This is a major waste of labor and creates a lag in company processes. Beyond business waste, paper production has many negative impacts on the environment. Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper is thrown away every year in the United States, making it a major source of pollution and accounting for 25% of landfill waste. Preside Biden has asserted that the climate crisis demands a “coordinated, whole-of-government response.” Fortunately, over 1,300 federal, state, and local government agencies in all 50 states are using eSignature solutions to facilitate remote work and process electronic forms, applications, agreements, and other documents.

3. Streamlined, Secure Operations

There are 23,000 unique forms used across 66 state government agencies, and half of them are printable-only and require manual processing. These forms can take a long time to fill out time that might otherwise be spent on more productive tasks. In fact, individuals and businesses spend about 11 billion hours on printing, reading instructions, and filling out government forms per year.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software allows businesses to operate faster and more effectively than ever before. Business is now largely conducted in the digital space, and paper is not needed online. Digital recordkeeping is more accurate and organized, and paperless offices can process much larger volumes of paperwork compared with traditional offices in the same amount of time. Features like eSignature software enable companies to process contracts and other documents that require signatures more quickly and distribute those documents more efficiently. Physical contracts and forms that require signatures can easily be misplaced or damaged and must be transported or mailed, which also poses a certain level of risk. Documents signed with digital signature software can be accessed via browser or phone, transferred between individuals and/or departments, and archived to prevent deletion. This is critical for government IT leaders who must be able to ensure secure transactions and properly stored documentation.

The same way paper documents are prone to damage, signatures can also be tampered with. Important contracts, often containing private information, can be stolen or misplaced easily. Government CIOs and CFOs are constantly handling important documents and must therefore manage and transmit them as securely as possible. Using digital signature software is a secure solution that uses text-based authentication to verify signing entities. Once the electronic signature has been obtained and the process is complete, the software utilizes a tamper-resistant validation method to ensure document integrity. DocuSign software allows state agencies to serve citizens in a responsible and secure way.

4. Overall Financial Savings

Integrating DocuSign can generate savings for your organization that go beyond using less paper. For example, printing accounts for 10% of IT-related energy use. The fewer document you need to print, the less energy you need to use, and the lower your energy bill will be. Additionally, 59% of organizations achieved a full return on investment (ROI) in under 12 months after going paperless, and 84% achieved ROI in less than 18 months. Eliminating the need for printers, ink, postage, office space for files, employee time spent managing physical paperwork and associated maintenance can also result in significant savings. This can ultimately be beneficial to a range of state agencies and encourage the adoption of the paperless government mission by more and more entities. Government CFOs and CIOs have a duty to citizens to make sure tax money is being used responsibly. Reducing funds spent on paper allows government leaders to improve public accountability allocate that tax money into more important causes and programs.

Contact Us

CherryRoad offers turn-key DocuSign eSignature services to a range of public sector clients looking to expand and optimize digital processes. We work to integrate DocuSign software with your existing operations and ensure electronic signature security and integrity. Throughout our 38-year history, we have helped countless commercial and public sector clients modernize their back-office functions and ultimately operate more successfully. To know more about our DocuSign eSignature services, please mail us at info@cherryroad.com.