It’s no secret that we live in a digital era. Government agencies are taking significant steps to embrace digital transformation. As citizens come to expect the same kind of ease and convenience in their dealings with public sector agencies as they experience with their favorite retail brands, agencies are looking to digitize more services. Applying for or renewing important documents like driver’s licenses and license plates are now services available online. With a highway full of self-driving vehicles being more of a near-distant vision than a far off possibility, the pace of digital transformation will continue to accelerate to keep up with technological advancements.
Kurt Myers, Deputy Secretary of Driver and Vehicle Services at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (with the support of his peers in the AAMVA community) is helping to make that vision a reality and shaping the direction of digital transformation in the motor vehicle space. Kurt currently serves as the Chairman of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) Board of Directors, and was one of the attendees I spoke with at the recent 2018 AAMVA Workshop & Law Institute in Denver, Colorado. The event brought together representatives from motor vehicle agencies, law enforcement, and the automotive industry to discuss the dynamic motor vehicle landscape.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to attend two AAMVA conferences. They have been invaluable for two reasons:
1. Helping me to understand the legislation and challenges facing jurisdiction agencies.
2. Providing the opportunity to meet jurisdiction leaders and industry partners, and discover how we can help them achieve their strategic goals.
AAMVA plays a truly integral role in supporting the motor vehicle and law enforcement community. With so many different jurisdictions and stakeholders the ability to share information effectively can face multiple roadblocks including, varying infrastructure, applications, and data standards across jurisdictions. AAMVA serves as a conduit to assist states in sharing information by providing systems to exchange driver, vehicle, and identity information. The systems they offer to jurisdictions are:
National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)
NMVTIS is a system designed to help states and law enforcement prevent vehicle title fraud. Additionally, it helps protect consumers from fraud or purchasing stolen or unsafe vehicles that shouldn’t be on the road. At the conference, I participated in a breakout session where jurisdictions shared challenges around different classifications of vehicles. After learning how inconsistency can result in significant work and potential risk for states, it was clear to see how important accurately reporting data is to jurisdictions.
Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS)
CDLIS is another AAMVA operated system that enables state driver licensing agencies (SDLAs) to ensure that each commercial driver has only one driver’s license and one complete driver record. This system assists with:
• Transmitting out-of-state convictions and withdrawals
• Transferring the driver record when a commercial driver's license holder moves to another state
• Responding to requests for driver status and history
State to State Verification Services (S2S)
Owned by the states and operated by AAMVA, S2S is a pointer system like CDLIS that allows states to determine whether an applicant already holds a license or ID card in another state.
Every state in the U.S. has a law that restricts a person from holding more than one driver’s
license. These laws have been in effect for many years, and states have relied upon an applicant’s self-attestation when signing their license application. Prior to S2S, with no ability to verify information (beyond what an individual volunteered to a licensing agency), there was no mechanism to confirm a person’s identity or driving history. The 15 states participating in S2S today have benefitted from improved customer service, reduced identity fraud, increased efficiency through automation of manual processes, and improved highway safety by identifying and eliminating potential duplicate licenses.
This year’s 2018 AAMVA Workshop and Law Institute was valuable in understanding where motor vehicle agencies stand in regards to digital transformation and learning how AAMVA is helping jurisdictions across the United States share and maintain the information they collect. I’m excited by the great progress they’re making and for the future of this industry!
Interested in learning more about how motor vehicle agencies are working to be data-driven, and how Experian can help? Join us for our upcoming webinar.
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Be sure to check out our recent public sector research report, and some of our other blogs on AAMVA:
Discussing proactive data management at AAMVA International
Top data quality values for DMVs from the AAMVA Region I Conference
