INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) was recently recognized by the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) for the outstanding quality and effectiveness of two online tools created to assist agency employees. Both of these projects received a 2020 FTA Award, selected by a panel of retired FTA Board of Trustee presidents.
Enhanced Data Protection and Security Protection
DOR’s Security and Privacy Training program ensures all DOR employees, across the state, are kept up-to-date and educated on the latest security requirements and taxpayer data protection practices.
In 2019, DOR’s team rebuilt this entire program to engage team members through an interactive and lively educational process, driving effective and valuable learning. It also was expanded to include the moral aspects of data security. This new program included unique interactive training modules so staff could learn directly from DOR leadership and participate in a team approach to security and data protection.
The FTA judges noted, “… security and privacy training are critical issues, but Indiana focused attention and resources on it to do it better.”
Enhanced Employee Communication Tool
DOR’s internal website, DORway, is a crucial tool DOR team members utilize throughout each day, to stay informed and perform their jobs. DORway houses agency information, schedules, policies, procedures, templates and various other tools. In an effort to dramatically improve this critical resource, this site was completely overhauled in 2019 to make it more user-friendly and efficient.
DOR team members from across the agency collaborated on a year-long process to design and implement the new version. Input from all DOR departments was key to the project’s success. According to the FTA judges, DORway is “worth shining a light on” because “Indiana seems to have gone about the process in a thorough enough way that could provide guidance to other states.”
“I am extremely proud of the innovative efforts taken by our dedicated DOR team to find ways to continuously improve how DOR can better serve our Hoosier customers,” stated Commissioner Bob Grennes. “While these awards highlight only a few of our projects, they demonstrate the level of commitment DOR team members have to continuously improving our service to Indiana.”
FTA is a nonprofit association that includes the taxation and revenue agencies in the 50 states, District of Columbia, New York City and Philadelphia. Its mission is to improve the standards and methods of tax administration. For more information on FTA, visit their website at TaxAdmin.org.
