Innovation #24

Innovative Achievements

MMS GOES PAPERLESS IN PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced today that the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region's Public Information Office has technologically advanced into a paperless office. By using state-of-the-art technology, such as optical imaging and advanced software for electronic retrieval, the majority of traditional paper files have been eliminated with more than one million pages available electronically. This innovative improvement in office automation will enable the MMS to better meet the demands of nearly 18,000 annual customer requests for public information.

Reports, applications, and similar documents more than one million pages can be extracted quickly, efficiently, and printed at very low cost, saving MMS and customers thousands of dollars in fees and research man-hours annually. More than 4,000 hours of work went into scanning documents using sophisticated optical readers to convert text and line drawings into images on CD-ROMs. Other materials were converted to a digital format. All documents are now accessible through a "Customer Computer Center," a bank of personal computers connected to a dedicated server and printers reserved for public use. Additional publications are currently being scanned to conclude the document depository project.

The Public Information office is the source for all nonproprietary information concerning mineral leasing and operations on the federal offshore lands of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. "This move toward a paperless office is another example that puts MMS in front when it comes to customer service," remarked MMS Director Cynthia Quarterman. "The employees in the Public Information Office worked hard over a four year period to complete this initiative, piece by piece, with a limited budget. Their enthusiasm and dedication are commendable."

This achievement is the latest in a series of innovations that resulted from a pilot program initiated by MMS in response to Executive Order 12862, "Setting Customer Service Standards." The pilot program included setting customer service standards, surveying external customers, evaluating work processes, and working together to achieve a customer-driven organization.

MMS is the federal agency that manages and regulates the Nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the OCS, and collects, accounts for, and last year disbursed $6 billion in revenues from offshore Federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands.

-MMS-

MMS Internet website address: http://www.mms.gov
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