SmartForm
Encyclopedia
SmartForm is a term used to describe an electronic form with capabilities beyond a traditional paper form, such as electronic completion, dynamic sections, database calls and electronic submission.
The term is used by the Australian Government, who have established a specialist unit called the SmartForms Developer Center to encourage and assist Government Agencies to transform their current paper forms to SmartForms. The aim of this is to improve both their own internal processing as well the service they are providing to their constituents.
In 2008, the use of SmartForms was named a best practice initiative by the Australian Government Information Management Office
in the Review of the Australian Government's Use of ICT.
FormPublisher forms is a Smart Form that dynamically adapts to user responses and the process context.
The Australian Department of Finance and Deregulation is promoting a Whole of Government SmartForms solution under a $42M Australian Government Online Service Point program. This SmartForm solution is based on Adobe Systems
XFA
forms, Livecycle and Avoka SmartForm Manager.
The term is used by the Australian Government, who have established a specialist unit called the SmartForms Developer Center to encourage and assist Government Agencies to transform their current paper forms to SmartForms. The aim of this is to improve both their own internal processing as well the service they are providing to their constituents.
In 2008, the use of SmartForms was named a best practice initiative by the Australian Government Information Management Office
Australian Government Information Management Office
The Australian Government Information Management Office is a branch of the Australian Government. It was established on 8 April 2004, taking over some of the functions of the former National Office for the Information Economy ....
in the Review of the Australian Government's Use of ICT.
FormPublisher forms is a Smart Form that dynamically adapts to user responses and the process context.
Promoted Benefits
- Lower cost of processing submitted forms
- Fewer data entry errors
- Lower postage and mail handling costs
- Enables the use of digital signatureDigital signatureA digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit...
s for non-repudiationNon-repudiationNon-repudiation refers to a state of affairs where the purported maker of a statement will not be able to successfully challenge the validity of the statement or contract. The term is often seen in a legal setting wherein the authenticity of a signature is being challenged... - SmartForms can be saved offline
- Files can be attached to the form
- Submitted forms can be easily integrated with back office systems using XMLXMLExtensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
data
Use in Government
The Federal Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research coordinates SmartForms initiatives across Australian government agencies. Departments currently using SmartForms include NSW Local Government Agencies, Victorian State Government, NT State Government and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations .The Australian Department of Finance and Deregulation is promoting a Whole of Government SmartForms solution under a $42M Australian Government Online Service Point program. This SmartForm solution is based on Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
XFA
XFA
XFA stands for XML Forms Architecture, a family of proprietary XML specifications that was suggested and developed by JetForm to enhance the processing of web forms. It can be also used in PDF files starting with PDF 1.5 specification...
forms, Livecycle and Avoka SmartForm Manager.
Technologies
There are a number technologies that can deliver SmartForm benefits with varying levels of capability. These include:- XFA Forms
- XFAXFAXFA stands for XML Forms Architecture, a family of proprietary XML specifications that was suggested and developed by JetForm to enhance the processing of web forms. It can be also used in PDF files starting with PDF 1.5 specification...
refers to Adobe XFA Forms platform which can be used to render PDF, Adobe FlexAdobe FlexAdobe Flex is a software development kit released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform...
or HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
based forms. - In the Australian government context SmartForms generally refer to Adobe XFA Forms.
- XFA
- XForms
- XformsXFormsXForms is an XML format for the specification of a data processing model for XML data and user interface for the XML data, such as web forms...
refers to a W3c XML Forms architecture. Solutions implementing XForms include IBM Lotus Forms, Open Data Kit (ODK) and Group Complete (ODK compatible).
- Xforms
- InfoPath Forms
- InfoPath refers to Microsoft Office InfoPath XML form technology.
- FormPublisher Forms
- FormPublisher refers to Jway XML form technology.