The Office of Personnel Management requested information related to its plan to develop a government-wide digital record that makes it easier for federal employees to transfer between agencies or leave and re-enter federal service.
The request asked businesses for possible technology solutions that would provide several functionalities for the agency. OPM has committed to begin development of a “standard employee digital record” by 2019.
The notice lays out many key objectives for the object, such as allowing for an agency to create a file for a federal employee once, that can then be updated as needed completely within the digital environment.
“[The system would enable] movement of federal employees between agencies in an agile manner without re-entering data, and [retain and manage] records so that as employees move in and out of government, their information can be easily retrieved for re-entry or retiring processing,” OPM wrote.
They also said the digital record system would replace a variety of agency-specific processes, enabling “elimination of burdensome manual data collection and routine government-wide reporting activities”.
“Currently, human resource data systems lack integration within agencies and interoperability among and between agencies and service providers,” OPM stated. “This results in redundancy, inefficient and occasionally inaccurate reporting, complex and costly vendor management, and incomplete data that makes it difficult to apply needed business to core HR functions.”
This new digital record also makes it easier for agencies to implement changes in legislation, regulation, and other policies and procedures. OPM hopes to implement the new system “incrementally”, eventually expanding to all executive branch employees, retirees, and family members, and to HR functions such as recruitment, background investigations, training, performance management, and retirement processing.
The program is still in the development phase. The deadline for formal responses on June 13th.
