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State Agencies Announce Vendor Engagement

The two-part meeting, which begins next week, is aimed at helping a key state agency continue to modernize its technology, improve its process and become more efficient.

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The agency charged with completing one of the state’s most ambitious ID projects less than 12 months from now has issued a Request For Information (RFx) from vendors on what’s next.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the California Department of Technology (CDT) “are looking for innovative organizations to join our journey to transform how the DMV does business,” the agencies said Friday in announcing DMV Vendor Day at 9 a.m. on Oct. 17 — the first connection in a potential two-part engagement with technology companies. Among the takeaways:

• This is the first time DMV has held a vendor day, Anita Gore, DMV’s deputy director of communications, told Techwire. She said new Director Steve Gordon, a longtime Cisco executive who joined the agency July 29, is “very interested in technological solutions that can help us modernize DMV, help us process more people through our offices, and it’s about efficiency and best practices.” In the event listing, the agencies indicated that they are “looking to become more responsive, efficient and effective as we follow the Governor’s mandate to transform the DMV into a more modern and efficient organization.”

Gore said she couldn’t address whether that was a reference or a nod to RFI2, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “flexible approach to procurement,” but noted: “We need to look to modernize the DMV for the long term, and also are working to face our immediate issue, which is that all people that need Real IDs get them by the deadline.”

• RSVPs are requested; and due to limited space, the agencies ask that no more than two representatives of each company attend. Gore described it as a “unique opportunity” to hear from Gordon and his leadership team in person about the opportunities to digitally transform DMV.

These include managing the demand for the federally mandated Real ID, which Californians who wish to fly domestically or enter federal facilities will need by Oct. 1, 2020; optimizing DMV service delivery; improving its back-office operations; and defining a technology roadmap “from now to the future,” according to the event listing.

• The two-hour event, at the CDT Training Center in Rancho Cordova, is aimed at “anyone who has an idea on how to go help us modernize the DMV,” Gore said. It isn’t designed for vendor presentations — but vendors will be “invited to come back and present based on what they hear,” she said. A pitch meeting on “how to best achieve one or more of these objectives” is tentatively set for early November, per the listing.

• To date, the DMV has issued roughly 5.8 million Real IDs, equating to about 21 percent of the state’s approximately 28 million licensed drivers. The agency has added a decision tree to its Web portal to help Californians decide whether they need a Real ID — though Gore said people who have a U.S. passport or a military ID won’t need a Real ID; and neither will people who have no plans to fly domestically or to enter a federal facility. The deputy communications director said DMV has taken steps to reduce its Real ID processing time, including improving staff training, giving employees better information about handling transactions, and “triaging” field office visitors when they arrive to ensure they carry the necessary Real ID documents and enter the correct line. The department is also adding floormats with signage to better direct visitors at its field offices with high traffic and is working to add an online application for Real ID.

Theo Douglas is Assistant Managing Editor of Industry Insider — California.