The department on Tuesday held another in a series of virtual Vendor Days, in which EDD presents a “problem statement” and invites industry members to tune in, pose questions and assess whether they can help the state fill the need. Its goals are to encourage vendors to take part in EDD’s market research and to spotlight “the opportunities available in the market.”
During the webinar and in an accompanying PowerPoint presentation, EDD and co-presenter CityInnovate Inc. detailed the challenge: “The EDD is seeking a robust, comprehensive, and user-friendly identity proofing solution to ensure program integrity, deliver comprehensive real-time identity proofing results, and to provide in-depth reporting and workflow customization. EDD seeks to provide a modern, integrated, and thorough system of checks and balances that will provide a frictionless experience for customers while expanding EDD’s current scope of fraud detection.”
The department’s metrics illustrate the need for scalability in that challenge: EDD has 10 branches, 160 locations and more than 10,000 employees. It processes more than 130 million documents a year, and it collects $100 billion in taxes.
The scope of the project and the process were explained in the webinar by Marlon Paulo, executive vice president of CityInnovate and a former longtime state IT executive. Paulo explained that the desired outcome of the solution or solutions that are chosen should:
- Pose a minimal amount of friction for legitimate customers and include a continuous feedback model that considers outcomes from EDD administrative eligibility determinations.
- Include a proofing method that does not require a customer to provide their Social Security number.
- Provide a secondary proofing method for customers who cannot be verified through the initial screening process so that legitimate customers can immediately address outstanding issues regarding their identity — for example, document upload services.
- Allow EDD to assess risk tied to a customer’s email address, IP address, and device as well as geospatial alerts.
Vendors’ responses to the challenge are due by 11:59 p.m. March 21, and the EDD project team will finish its assessment of responses by March 28. Vendors who are chosen to proceed will be contacted in April.
Additional details about the project, “high-level solution requirements,” vendor qualifications and other specifications are available online. Those seeking more information may contact EDD’s Mitchell Sharp. It’s recommended that interested vendors include a URL for background material on their product or team (i.e., video, case studies, blog piece, etc.), and specify which state software licensing programs/vehicles they or their resellers are registered under.
