Labor Department Announces New Initiative to Promote Modular Use of Unemployment Systems

The Department of Labor has announced a new program to improve unemployment insurance systems.

According to the Labor Department, the OpenUI Initiative aims to allow states to use modular unemployment insurance technologies developed by other organizations or make their solutions available to other states. The goal is to change states’ approach to UI systems procurement, circumventing quality issues observed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the initiative, the UI Information Technology Support Center would create a technical advisory group that would create an “Open UI framework” and help states and vendors source software. The department wants early adopters to use the envisioned Open UI system before the end of 2024, FedScoop reported Thursday.

The department has been investing in benefits systems modernization in recent months.

In November, the General Services Administration announced that the DOL will receive nearly $3.5 million from the Technology Modernization Fund for an Employee Benefits Security Administration that would help over 150 million beneficiaries claim lost benefits. The department will use the funding to create a registry that allows employees covered by retirement and welfare plans to look for savings and benefits owed to them.

In May, the DOL invested $653 million to allow states to upgrade their unemployment insurance IT systems.