Based on your own experience, both in your office and in
looking at the Department as a whole, do we have the right web
management structure in place? What specifically works well,
and what doesn't?
The visible presence of the local offices is good and getting
better with trained Web Managers in each office. The information
available through the main HUD site is vast: a great thing in
itself but a potential liability. I worry that it will spread
so thin that the resources required to care and feed it will
not be available in the needed measure.
I believe we have the right web management structure evolving,
not necessarily "in place" as yet. The electronic tools are
in place and evolving through usage, into a well coordinated
overall centralized departmental management system. I am assuming
that centralized management is desirable. If not, the same systems
could function effectively together on a regional basis.
The HUD web, internet and intranet, are extremely useful parts
of the web management structureI use both daily for information
of all sorts. It helps me live up to the expectation of Sr CB/State
Coordinators that we be "instant experts" on many topics and
issues.
The best parts are the local presence of each field office
on the web, and the seamless integration of the local sites
with the vast Departmental site. It is difficult to get input
for the local pages from the program areas, so that should be
improved in some fashion.
...The right web management structure is in place for the type
of operation we have today. I am not sure that would remain
the case if we ever achieve the "electronic government" environment
you describe. It seems to me that we have to re-examine our
web manager structure- - both in the number and type of people
assigned to the task. If actual business is to be conducted
on line, we will have to dedicate program and computer specialists
to ensure that our customers receive quality and timely service.
...it must be very difficult for smaller offices, particularly
the very small offices, to develop and maintain the necessary
expertise. Having more services and direct programming out of
a central source may be necessary to maintain individual high
quality web pages...it seems like many offices have pages which
are under construction or have limited useful content.
At some point, it would be good to have a Web Manager in the
field (at least at the 10 former Regions and some of the larger
offices) who can spend the majority of their time on this.
We have a quiz that comes up on our PCs every morning regarding
programs. I'd like to see something come up re Kiosks and HAM.
Some HUD employees don't know what either can do; where they're
located and particularly the HAM, don't even know what that
is.We need to ensure that the Web Managers we train are adequately
compensated. The skills they are learning are and will be in
greater and greater demand in the market place.
What are the next steps you think HUD should take to make
sure we can do our work online (both internally and externally)
and provide our services to the public via the web?
While I support and endorse moving toward more fillable template
forms, we need to clean house of unnecessary forms.
I find HUD Web to be very helpful.
The biggest concern I hear from outside is to make the FHA
process more user friendly.
External e mail is has a reputation for intermittence...it
is most frustrating to create important e-correspondence to
an external partner only to have it come back "undeliverable".
The laptops are fine as stand-alone units for field work, but
they choke speed down to a trickle at the desktop (try downloading
an Excel file while a customer waits for information contained
in it...we have network crashes on a more than weekly basis
(often 2-3 times a week, sometimes for as long as 5 hours).
If we're going to get this right, the right technology and ample
technical support is absolutely vital.
I believe our internal work is probably doable...the external
work is another matter. We need to improve our e mail interface
so that it is reliable. We also need to think about the interpersonal
aspects of e government. The questions of "relationship building",
part of the CB role, and dispute resolution need further work.
A good next step is to focus on acclimating the public to this
way of doing things. We find that a growing component of our
public has access to computers and is comfortable in relating
to us via same. There are also people without the means to have
a computer and many without skills or ability to gain the skills
to use a computer. Some people in these categories are the people
who have greatest need for HUD's assistance. I recommend an
initiative to simply encourage and inform people how to relate
to HUD and government electronically. The kiosks are a good
step in this direction and I applaud their expanded use.
We underwent an extensive exercise in exploring how to operate
"model" offices which included how to take advantage of available
technology to create an internal paperless environment. Perhaps
some of the lessons learned from that experience still hold
true today.
Some of our clients are getting extremely exasperated by the
HUD online business systems. It already looks like PHAs are
ready to rebel against REAC systems, and I fear for the Best
Practices Information System (BPIS) which has just come online.
The keys to online processing systems are simplicity and easy
access. More effort needs to be devoted to this area, with a
stronger sense of what it looks like to a user. Internally,
many of the current systems are terrible to use. ACRS, BOPPAS,
HATS, etc., have major shortcomings. They often don't tell the
user what happened to an action, they can be terribly slow,
and are usually dissimilar in look and feel.
Greater involvement by customers and HUD field personnel in
design of the systems is essential. Right now if someone needs
a system, they design their own, and the field has to adapt
to another completely different product, and support, and try
to use it.
The trend toward PDF fillable forms or Word templates should
be continued, with the goal to be 100% of HUD forms available
in those ways...there should be ways for applicants filling
out the forms to get relevant sections of webcasts and other
information they need at the time they are filling out the forms.
I feel that our site has to be usable by folks with different
levels of internet sophistication, ranging from the minimal
equipment up through faster versions...we might want to offer
options to visitors to select text-only versions of the site.
I think it is very important for the Department to be re-investing
in updated hardware and broadband communications. Right now,
we have a huge mismatch in equipment...some program areas in
HUD have much better equipment than others, depending on the
focus and budget of the particular program area.
In some of HUD's databases from which consumer oriented information
is made available, the underlying data is incomplete, outdated,
and erroneous.
I'm advised that Contractor (e.g., M&M) info is consistently
inaccurate.
HUD's web sites need to become virtually 100% database driven.
This will maintain headquarters desire to have a consistent
look and feel to the web site, while enabling local offices
to maintain accurate and relevant information for consumers,
business partners and HUD staff.
A much better approach to customer communication would be to
have web based e-mail subscription databases throughout HUD's
web site allowing customers to sign up for receipt of timely
updates to the information critical to them. Other web sites
have been doing this for years, and so should HUD.
HUD should standardize its calendaring on Lotus Notes or HUDweb.
While this type of standardizing is being considered some thought
should be given to HUD's overall information sharing, exchange
and collaboration capability. Web based technology should be
the solution to HUD's information sharing and distribution problems.
One of the biggest issues is increasing network capacity to
meet the demand of the systems needed to respond to our customers
and staff. The technology exists or is on our doorstep. We need
to move faster organizationally to catch up with what is possible.
If we're considering improvement in software we must have a
similar thought given to hardware. Our laptops are really well
behind current technology and if we update our systems and not
our machines I fear our progress will be hampered overall.
HUD staff need a contact management system which would contain
all customer information but also track all contacts with clients
whether they are facilitating new projects or conducting reviews...it
should be webcentric and compatible with standard contact management
database standards.
HUD should develop web sites that allow Real Estate Agents
to access HUD home sales listings via internet enabled cell
phones and PDA devices. Maintenance of these resources must
be database driven so local HUD staff can quickly and accurately
make updates and corrections to HUD's information resources.
At the local level, we need to find better ways to reach out
to our non-profit partners to get (their) information up on
the web. The web forums for PHA partners is a good start; we
need to reach the financially strapped non-profits as well.
HUD does need to develop some type of electronic signature
system, and drop the need to back up everything in writing.
The Department will need to eliminate the requirement for paper,
although for many this will happen only with great anguish.
Finally - and this is really big picture! - what do you
think HUD should look like (ie - how should we be organized)
in an environment of electronic government, where everything
we do can be done online?
I think HUD is in a very awkward state right now--we want to
be the new HUD but--in a lot of ways--we are still stuck in
old ways of doing things. The reforms have begun to show results:
the back-office Hubs for specific functions, Community Builder
presence in every jurisdiction, the 2020 software--all of these
initiatives are headed in the right direction. I don't think
we can escape from offices. The day may come when we can operate
in a complete virtual office environment but I'm guessing that's
20 years out (2020?).
The best direction I've seen so far towards potentially changing
the way we do business is Storefronts. It makes no sense to
me to have so many field offices on upper floors of federal
buildings where customers have to pass through metal detectors
to see a HUD staffer. In my view, the bridge to a totally online
future is to get as many of us as possible into user-friendly,
accessible storefronts where customers can get online--locations
where we can really put the HAMs and kiosks to work...storefronts
could become the means to ensure that our low-income customers
have access.
I agree that the day could come when employees are distributed
throughout a jurisdiction, not all together in a single place.
I am not sure government will or should ever become a totally
electronic environment. To expect same is to ask a great deal
from human nature, the value and urge among people to react
and relate to each other interpersonally...interpersonal, non-electronic
components remain a critical component of the department.
I am instinctively fearful of creating an office structure
which envisions our work being accomplished exclusively on the
Internet. I would counsel that we not be so tempted to yet again
be on the cutting edge of the Federal Government that we put
our workforce and our customers at risk of frustration overload.
I have been a long-time proponent of the virtual workplace
at HUD, and I still believe HUD could improve its field operations
by adopting that approach. However, just because it is possible
to conduct everything we do online, it is not necessarily the
case that all our clients will want to do business online. I
believe that there still is a central role for a more traditional
HUD office in the community - one where people can walk in,
talk to a live person, and take away hard copies of information.
HUD should roll out capacity for systems to support full tele-commuting
activities for all staff positions. The technology currently
exists for video conferencing through PCs for staff/customer
meetings and training needs. Customer service calls could easily
be handled, tracked and documented through web systems. Real
time interface via video or written dialogue is currently available.
Program reviews can be conducted and submitted by staff electronically
similar to what has been accomplished by REAC.
HUD's management structure will change to accommodate the technology,
and it will involve more working out of the home, wireless internet
on the move, and computer video phone conferencing. Where employees
are located will generally become less important, although field
work will be essential in dealing with customers into the foreseeable
future.
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