Digitizing records for easier public access
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (DOI-BLM): Helping the public, industry, and government access historical land records
Challenge: Land records are in demand, with 80,000 unique monthly visitors accessing BLM’s General Land Office (GLO) website. Many records are distributed across multiple websites or have yet to be digitized. The current GLO Automation System is outdated, delaying record publication. If unable to access records electronically, users must call or visit a BLM public room, creating a frustrating experience for the American public and industry and government officials who need to make decisions related to public lands.
Approach: With TMF support, BLM is taking an agile approach to:
- Increase the number of land records available online
- Enhance search functionality on the GLO website
- Redesign the public-facing web application to improve efficiency and accuracy of retrieved data and improve document images
Across three phases, BLM is working to:
- Decrease staff processing time by 80% by applying machine learning to records indexing, including optical character recognition and natural language processing
- Create a land records ecosystem by integrating GLO with other BLM applications
- Operationalize GLO on BLM’s Mission Services Platform, which includes enterprise software for secure and streamlined processes for the public
- Investment start: 07/2023
- Project status: Active
- Transfer status: 100%
- Repayment status: 31%
- Schedule delay: No
- Cost overruns: No
- ARP funding: Yes
- Commercial product: Yes
- Total TMF investment amount: $9,180,000
- TMF spend to date (obligated): $8,793,317