Findings indicated that 58 percent of surveyed U.S. government and education workers said they spend nearly half of their average workday filing, deleting or sorting paper or digital information. According to Basex, a knowledge economy research firm, this amounts to at least $31 billion spent managing information each year by local, state and federal governments.

"Government agencies are being asked to maintain the same level of service to constituents while staring at severely slashed budgets," said Jonathan Spira, chief analyst of Basex. "Tackling the information overload problem is a good place to start recapturing some of those costs."

Other responses from the survey suggest taking steps to ease information overload will help speed up work processes, reduce employee stress and ultimately save time and money for government and education agencies. Of the workers surveyed:

• 57 percent say not finding the right information for their jobs is more frustrating than being stuck in a traffic jam
• 38 percent said they have had to redo reports or other work
• 24 percent said they have used the wrong information
• 23 percent missed deadlines as a result of inefficient management
• 37 percent strongly to somewhat agree that their organizations are drowning in paper
• 50 percent strongly to somewhat agree that their organization's business processes are paper-based
• 45 percent felt increased stress and anxiety about their work

"Information overload is creating huge challenges for knowledge workers in both the public and private sectors," said Greg Jones, senior vice president of Public Service Operations, Xerox Corporation. "With the current economic pressures, it is critical for businesses to address the gaps in their work processes and implement smarter strategies that deliver results."

Businesses in both the public and private sector have uncovered significant cost savings by working with Xerox to streamline information management.

• The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission boosted productivity by up to 35 percent after implementing a paperless claims process using Xerox DocuShare™, a web-based content management software solution. Instead of manually storing and retrieving employment, insurance and tax data, workers now instantly access a database of more than two million files.
• Penn State's Multimedia and Print Center, inundated with requests to print, duplicate and distribute volumes of paperwork, used Xerox digital presses and production printers, and a Web portal storefront, to streamline its operations - improving the bottom line by 50 percent.
• The Wilkes Barre School District in Pennsylvania simplified the student registration process with Xerox DocuShare, reducing time spent from two weeks per child to just 30 minutes.

Moving into the digital age
The survey, which polled government and education workers across the U.S., revealed that workers see paper as a facilitator of information overload and are looking to technology to help manage it. When considering a technology investment to bring them into the digital age, almost half (42 percent) ranked improved efficiency as the number one priority for doing so. For those surveyed that have started the digital migration, 63 percent somewhat to strongly disagree that their organization is completely digital, leaving room for improvement down the line.

After launching the "sharing" era with the first xerographic copier 70 years ago, Xerox now helps customers navigate the flood of information. The company has kept pace with innovations that help clear the path between paper and digital content, cut through the clutter and make information relevant again. For more on information overload, visit: www.infooverload.com.

Survey Methodology
This Information Overload Survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of Xerox between October 13 and October 30, 2008 among 316 full time employees working in education or government industries. All respondents are employed full time with 25 percent holding C-level titles and 85 percent sharing in the decisions for document management technology at their organization. Results are not weighted.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to be invited to participate in the Harris Interactive online research panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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