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Higher User Participation Rate
Another foreseeable benefit of using e-signatures to support the Hawaii Non-commercial Bottomfish Logbook is an increased user participation and customer satisfaction. It will be possible for users, who are not commercial fishers, to complete their logbook submission at home using a web application that walks them through the process. As occasional reporters, it will be important to minimize burden and complexity to get the users to report their catch. (A little more info on the web application and how user-friendly is would help here). Some of these features include help text and response hints that can be associated with each field found on an online form. (Is this going to be true for this application?) These features provide a richer user experience and make reporting online easier, more interactive, and convenient than a paper process.
Increase in Employee Productivity
Using e-signatures to enable electronic reporting of logbook data should also help to increase employee productivity. Since this is a new reporting requirement for non-commercial fishers, an electronic logbook application should, at the very least, minimize the impact of gathering and analyzing these new data. (There is an open issue in my mind about whether there are edit checks in the web application or e-signature feature that will increase assurance in identity or reduce the changes of misreporting or data errors). It seems clearer that there are savings from not having to have NMFS personnel at the dock to collect the logs. Are savings from longline analogous?
Information Benefits to the Public
(I deleted the entry on data quality for now Not sure that information benefits to this application apply like they do for NPS)
Reduced Reporting Burden
Based on estimates provided the upcoming Hawaii longline logbook, this analysis assumes a less burden for electronic logbook reporting than on paper. Estimates for burden reduction from the Longline log book state electronic versus paper logbooks will take one third less time. Regulations for this project state that logbooks will take 20 minutes for each day. Should we assume less? How many trips per year should we assume for these recreational and subsistence fishers?
Reduced Cycle time for logbook reporting between NMFS and End Users
One substantial benefit that is gained by switching to an electronic process for logbook reporting is a reduction in time getting the logbook data in a form for further processing and analysis. The most noticeable speed increase is seen in the time it takes to transmit the logbook data to NMFS regional office for processing. There is the additional time it takes to convert the data to electronic form from the paper logbooks.