I just finished my exam to become a notary public. I know, its prestigious. (Who am I kidding! Its a young man’s game!)
I am always amazed at how poorly the government uses technology. This is a great example:
1. The test is online, unsupervised, but “closed book”.
2. The test must be completed on a Windows machine running Internet Explorer. They specifically state that the do not support other browsers or operating systems.
3. Even though the test consisted of 35 multiple-choice questions, my score will be mailed (as in USPS) to me in 7 days.
Imagine if I was sitting in a business meeting, and I proposed this solution. I would be ridiculed. Only Internet Explorer? Who uses IE? Mail the results? Why would we introduce a manual process when the data is already on our servers? We are going to trust it to be closed book? Why don’t we design a test where it doesn’t matter?
Unfortunately in the Utah State Government these questions either aren’t asked, or considered to be a poor use of resources to make a change. (Why would we bother with “alternative browsers”? Doesn’t everyone use IE like us?) It’s the same reason I need to pay an additional service fee to pay my car registration online. They honestly perceive it to be more expensive than paying people to manually open envelopes and process checks.
Of course its completely logical in the end. What is there motivation to do a better job? Since decisions are based on departmental resources rather than market demand, they cater to the solution that requires the least amount of effort on their part. And that’s what we are left with.
You act surprised. But honestly, are you?
“So, have you decided what course you’re going to take, Dad?”
“Well, I’ve narrowed it down to ‘Salsa Dancing’ and ‘Becoming A Notary Public’…Oh, who am I kidding? We all know the world doesn’t need any more salsa dancers.”