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Department of Revenue’s IMB Project Recognized with Government Innovation Award

Tags: Programs, News
September 16, 2019 02:45 PM
By: Revenue Communications Department

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The Department of Revenue's Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) project team recently learned the team will be presented with a 2019 Government Innovation Award later this year. The project team is being recognized in the Public Sector Innovations category, which focuses on creating or utilizing new technology to make government function better. The Government Innovation Awards are presented by two technology publications, Federal Computer Week and Government Computer News, in addition to Washington Technology and Defense Systems.

"This project is a great example of the work that our department is doing to improve our processes for reaching our taxpayers and supplying them with the information they need," Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell said. "This project has greatly helped us improve customer service in a very short period of time."

The Department of Revenue's IMB project is one of 40 Public Sector Innovation projects being recognized during a Nov. 7 ceremony in McLean, Va. Other government agencies receiving awards include the IRS, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

The Intelligent Mail Barcode project, which was previously featured on PA Tax Talk, utilizes new barcodes to improve the speed, accuracy and delivery of mail. Using the barcodes on department mail allows department staff to track and electronically verify taxpayers' addresses with the U.S. Postal Service, so the department's systems are updated with a correct address. This technology allows the department to immediately learn why a delivery failed, including if the mail is not deliverable as addressed or if the mail was refused.

To date, this project has accounted for more than $1.6 million in tax revenue due to the address updates and subsequent taxpayer payments that have come in, and has allowed the department to take a big step forward in its continuing efforts to create efficiencies and reduce costs.

The department's IMB project team is comprised of approximately 40 employees. The team is led by Shane Lenker, project manager; Christine Sehar, business manager; and Mike Justice, technical manager


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