Collaborative PDF editing and document control for government

The number of US Federal Government organizations, its scale of operations and sheer size has no global equal. On any given day, the federal workforce – which numbers over 2 million – has to juggle myriad initiatives and policies, projects and services.

Inevitably, the scope of the government’s operations, as well as its mix of agencies large and small, has given rise to siloes that can hinder performance.

Yet, so great is the need—and the directive—to improve government performance via collaboration that there is even an agency, The Performance Improvement Council (PIC), devoted to it.

Of course, while agency and department interaction has to be fostered in order to stimulate collaboration, human beings are only as good as the tools they work with.

Document collaboration and control are critical

A tool we use in our professional lives daily, the document is a touchstone of government. There are millions of federal government documents in existence and more being created daily.

Many vendors are helping organizations streamline document management by migrating documents into cloud storage and putting collaborative workspaces into the mix. Yet while this enhances availability, it can increase information vulnerability.

After all, what happens when somebody downloads a document to their desktop or mobile device? It’s essentially in the wild now, outside its creators’ control.

That’s a problem for any organization, but it’s especially troubling for government agencies, where safeguarding sensitive information, such as PII, PHI and Homeland Security data, is paramount—and required as part of HIPAA privacy acts and other regulatory compliance.

The solution: take document collaboration and security to a whole new level

ConnectedPDF (cPDF) goes beyond document management systems by putting security and tracking right into the document itself, so you can collaborate in real time while having control over it, no matter where it goes or who does what with it.

Collaborate in real-time

cPDF brings collaboration to the forefront with Connected Review. It’s a lot like a Shared Review, however, you don’t need to host the document on a server or network folder. You don’t even need to email the document to other reviewers. All the connectivity is taken care of behind the scenes by cPDF in real-time. So when someone makes a comment on the document, you’ll see it. And when you make a comment, they’ll see it, too.

Protect documents even after they leave your hands, device or server

Even after you’ve sent a cPDF document to someone else, or a whole group, or someone’s downloaded it, you can change or revoke users’ access privileges. You can also set the document to expire completely, giving it a time and date when it will no longer be accessible by anyone, even the people you’ve invited to look at it.

You can restrict and grant permission for any of types of events that people normally perform on a document, such as reviewing, printing, annotating, and commenting. And when you share your documents, there’s a full audit trail of who’s doing what with your documents, including how long readers are spending on pages, and PDF editing features they are using such as redaction, signing with DocuSign, etc.  Gaining insight into receivers of your document not only enables you to optimize readership, but also track what they are doing inside of the document itself.

Multiple deployment options offer levels of security

Foxit offers multiple deployment options, with seamless transition between the different models. You can try out the public cloud version with a free download. And if you like, move to the highest level of security, which is on-premises deployment with full-rights management.

All in all, no matter who you’re collaborating with—other government entities, outside agencies, outside attorneys, law firms, and members of the court system—ConnectedPDF offers a way to provide secure collaboration.