Department Of Energy Wins Award For Excellence In Business Process Management & Workflow

Online Application Portal Recognized for its Impact, Innovation and Implementation

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced that the online portal designed by the Loan Programs Office received the 2010 Gold Award from the North America Global Awards for Excellence in Business Process Management & Workflow presented by the Workflow Management Coalition and BPM.com. The Department's Loan Programs Office developed the portal with the assistance of Accenture, HandySoft USA and USA Energy Advisors,. The secure, user-friendly portal provides an easy and efficient method for applying for loan guarantees that support clean energy projects across the United States.

"We are proud to be recognized for the portal's innovation and our ability to help accelerate the application process for loan guarantees," said Jonathan Silver, Executive Director of the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office. "The development of this portal is one of several significant steps we have taken to streamline the loan process with the high degree of transparency and accountability the American taxpayers deserve Clean energy will be a key driver of the global economy for years to come, and we are committed to investing in valuable projects across a variety of energy sectors that strengthen our economy while creating jobs in communities across the country."

To provide greater transparency and efficiency in the application process, the Department replaced the old paper-intensive, cumbersome and time-consuming method with a new, flexible, Web-based portal. The portal has resulted in significant time savings, reducing initial review time from 30-45 days to less than 10, while enabling applicants to submit materials in less than one business day thanks to convenient upload features versus several weeks with the previous system.

Nominations were judged on the level of innovation, the successful implementation and impact on the agency's performance of the business process management solution. The Department of Energy is the first U.S. federal agency in the program's 17-year history to receive a Gold Award in business process management and workflow. This year the judges recognized eight finalists in this region - the highest number of finalists ever selected, which included leading public and private sector organizations. The Department's award-winning case study will be published in the next volume of BPM Excellence in Practice published by Future Strategies Inc.

SOURCE: U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu