Mumbai: Covansys Corporation (www.covansys.com), a global consulting and technology services company, has announced the launch of their new unemployment insurance (UI) framework solution called eTABS (Enterprise Tax and Benefits Solution) at the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) Unemployment Insurance Technology Connection Conference in Whitefish, Montana.

Also announced was the appointment of Mark Boyd to lead the company's UI Practice. Boyd is the former commissioner of the New Jersey department of labour, and is a recognised national expert in employment security, workforce development, unemployment insurance, and labour market analysis.

Covansys' new Web-enabled solution is customer-focused, highly scalable and designed for use across multiple programmes. eTABS is designed to improve UI services for citizens and employers by streamlining business processes to improve overall speed and efficiency. Additional benefits of eTABS include enhanced interagency collaboration, reduced fraud and abuse and improved data integrity.

"The combination of rising unemployment, increasing citizen demand for online UI tax and benefits services and the overall need to improve UI service delivery across multiple programmes and agencies has caused a dramatic need for a solution like eTABS," says Arvind Malhotra, senior vice president, Covansys Public Sector. "More importantly, by improving the overall efficiency of their IT systems, eTABS will help make the whole tax and benefits process easier for both out-of-work citizens and employers."

The US department of labour recently allocated a total of $8 billion to the states through a Reed Act distribution. This distribution requires states to improve unemployment insurance service delivery in five areas, including IT improvements/automation, fraud and abuse reduction, unemployment insurance claims filing and payment methods, and one-stop administration.

Covansys has extensive experience implementing unemployment and workforce development IT solutions, including successful implementation of the benefits system for the state of Maryland. The company is also in the final stages of implementing the employer tax system for the state of South Carolina.

For the past 18 years, Covansys has provided public sector solutions to more than 45 states in the areas of health and human services, public retirement, public health, motor vehicle services, and unemployment insurance systems. Covansys derives more than 46 per cent of its current annual revenues from state and local government customers and healthcare clients.

Headquartered in Michigan, Covansys is a global consulting and technology services company specialising in industry-specific solutions, strategic outsourcing and integration services. Clients gain competitive advantage by leveraging our unique onsite, offsite, offshore delivery capability to achieve rapid deployment, world-class quality and reduced costs.

A leader in the public sector market, Covansys is also known for application maintenance and development outsourcing in the healthcare, financial services, retail and distribution, manufacturing, telecommunications and high-tech industries. Founded in 1985, with over 4,800 employees worldwide, Covansys was one of the first US-based IT services companies to establish offshore facilities in India, and is a pioneer in seamlessly integrating offshore capabilities into its offerings.

Two of the company's three wholly owned development centres in India are assessed at Level 5 in SEI CMM and are ISO 9001:2000-certified, and all three are assessed at Level 5 in PCMM. Washington Technology magazine named Covansys one of the leading IT companies for state and local governments in 2002 and 2003.