DotGov.com’s CivicApp™ and SmartPub™ Recognized for Helping Transform Congress

Washington, DC — Two DotGov.com clients were honored with the “Door Stop Award” at a recent OpenGov Foundation awards ceremony.

Among the elite group of 2017 award winners were Reynold Schweickhardt, the Director of Technology Policy in the U.S. House, and Stephen Dwyer, Senior Advisor to House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD-05). The awards recognized their innovative use of DotGov.com’s SmartPub™ and CivicApp™ platforms, respectively.

“We’ve invested heavily in our SmartPub™ and CivicApp™ platforms and we’re grateful to be able to work with visionaries like Reynold and Stephen in developing innovative technology solutions. We’re also proud of the role our platforms are playing in achieving the bipartisan mission of saving tax dollars and improving citizens’ experience with Congress and the federal government,” said DotGov.com Managing Partner John Leary.

After successfully participating in a recent Congressional Hackathon, DotGov introduced the digitally-native CivicApp™ Casework Module, which enables constituents to use any Internet-connected device to initiate a constituent service request from their member of Congress.

Consistent with the Privacy Act of 1974, the new tool securely transmits data to the a Member’s constituent relationship management (CRM) database and securely renders a casework request PDF with a digital signature. The casework module can reduce the time required to process a constituent request from weeks to minutes and enables constituents to quickly and efficiently get the help they need.

DotGov.com’s CivicApp™ is an open-platform constituent services web application that is optimized for mobile devices. The constituent casework module is the first all-digital casework tool that enables citizens to securely get help from their representatives in Congress from any Internet-connected device.

DotGov.com’s SmartPub™ platform is the first fully-automated tool for developing, editing, and rendering U.S. House committee hearing reports. After a multi-year research and analysis effort, DotGov developed a prototype of SmartPub™, a managed service (or SAAS). SmartPub is planned to be integrated with the Government Publishing Office’s (GPO’s) internal publishing systems and processes. Following the planned integration phase, DotGov plans to begin a quality assurance (QA) phase.

According to the OpenGov Foundation, “… the Door Stop Awards for Congressional Innovation and Transparency highlight those Members of Congress and staffers delivering sustained, bipartisan, and meaningful change in the most challenging of environments. Their triumphs often happen quietly, outside of the public eye, but the effects are felt strongly throughout Congress and across the federal government… Door Stop Award winners don’t just open government to the public once. They put in place ‘door stops’ to ensure that Congress — and the entire federal government — never again closes to the American people.”

About DotGov.com — DotGov Communications, LLC (dba DotGov.com) is a pioneer in designing and engineering digital technologies and communications strategies to engage citizens. The first private firm to host congressional websites within the U.S. House of Representatives, DotGov.com works collaboratively with elected officials and government agencies to help them more efficiently and effectively engage citizens.