19 February - More efficient management of the increasing influx of information may be an untapped opportunity for government and education cost savings, according to a NEW SURVEY of the U.S. Public Sector conducted jointly by Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) and Harris Interactive.

Findings indicated that 58 percent of surveyed U.S. government and education workers said they spend nearly half of their average workday filing, deleting or sorting paper or digital information. According to Basex, a knowledge economy research firm, this amounts to at least $31 billion spent managing information each year by local, state and federal governments.

Other responses from the survey suggest taking steps to ease information overload will help speed up work processes, reduce employee stress and ultimately save time and money for government and education agencies. Of the workers surveyed:

• 57 percent say not finding the right information for their jobs is more frustrating than being stuck in a traffic jam
• 38 percent said they have had to redo reports or other work
• 24 percent said they have used the wrong information
• 23 percent missed deadlines as a result of inefficient management
• 37 percent strongly to somewhat agree that their organizations are drowning in paper
• 50 percent strongly to somewhat agree that their organization's business processes are paper-based
• 45 percent felt increased stress and anxiety about their work

"Information overload is creating huge challenges for knowledge workers in both the public and private sectors," said Greg Jones, senior vice president of Public Service Operations, Xerox Corporation. "With the current economic pressures, it is critical for businesses to address the gaps in their work processes and implement smarter strategies that deliver results."

Businesses in both the public and private sector have uncovered significant cost savings by working with Xerox to streamline information management.

• The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission boosted productivity by up to 35 percent after implementing a paperless claims process using Xerox DocuShare™, a web-based content management software solution. Instead of manually storing and retrieving employment, insurance and tax data, workers now instantly access a database of more than two million files.
• Penn State's Multimedia and Print Center, inundated with requests to print, duplicate and distribute volumes of paperwork, used Xerox digital presses and production printers, and a Web portal storefront, to streamline its operations - improving the bottom line by 50 percent.
• The Wilkes Barre School District in Pennsylvania simplified the student registration process with Xerox DocuShare, reducing time spent from two weeks per child to just 30 minutes.

Moving into the digital age
The survey, which polled government and education workers across the U.S., revealed that workers see paper as a facilitator of information overload and are looking to technology to help manage it. When considering a technology investment to bring them into the digital age, almost half (42 percent) ranked improved efficiency as the number one priority for doing so. For those surveyed that have started the digital migration, 63 percent somewhat to strongly disagree that their organization is completely digital, leaving room for improvement down the line.

About Harris Interactive

Click HERE for the entire Article – more information on the Survey Methodology