Agencies to test technology for digitizing documents

Several federal agencies are eyeing a new technology product from Adobe that can fully digitize documents. The technology would help them meet an impending mandate for conducting more business electronically.

The Internal Revenue Service and Agriculture Department have been participating in a test program launched by the San Jose, Calif.-based software maker. The technology will allow citizens to download and save portable documents known as PDF files.

Three agencies within Agriculture-Rural Development, the Farm Service Agency and the National Resource Conservation Service-are weighing whether to adopt the platform known as the "Adobe Document Server For Reader Extension," said David Pfaffenberger, a computer specialist with Rural Development at the department.

We've had "a lot input from the public that they wanted to take the PDF files and save them to their machines and fill them out," he added.

Most federal agencies distribute official forms and documents using Adobe's PDF software. The system only allows individuals to access those forms online for printing, preventing them from actually completing the forms and saving them electronically. But pending deadlines under laws that require agencies to move more of their services online are forcing agencies to find ways to create interactive documents.

Adobe's system would allow agencies to license the technology and then encode their online forms. Consumers would be able to complete the document electronically, annotate it, e-mail copies of it and save it to their personal computers without having to print a page.

The technology is not entirely new, but most firms pay premium costs for interactive PDF documents. Adobe began developing the "free" version in response to government inquiries. Twenty-five agencies are participating in the pilot project.

Consumers would not have to buy Adobe's software to complete a transaction. "You couldn't put that burden on the end user ... so we figured a way out [where] the government can actually pay," said Sydney Sloan, group-solutions marketing manager for Adobe. By year's end, the latest version of Adobe PDF-reader software will contain those components.

While the technology would provide substantial benefits, Pfaffenberger cautioned, "one of the hurdles" agencies face is guaranteeing the integrity of the forms. "We realize there is a big need to people being able to save their form online," he said. "But when you get into legal forms and the amount of money we deal with in loans and grants and assistance to the public ... we have to really make sure those forms cannot be changed."

In January, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) also plans to begin outlining requirements for accepting PDF documents for archiving purposes. NARA computer specialist Mark Giguere cautioned that each agency will have to reach a contract with NARA to specify minimum criteria for storing online documents.

Still, the move likely will be a boon to agencies trying to advance their online services, Pfaffenberger said. "I still think a lot of people are going to want this [product]. It just makes the whole process much more efficient."