American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA)
| model | Collaborative Organizational Development |
| service type | Public Services |
| country | United States |
| states | AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY, DC, VI |
| government type | state |
| license | unknown |
| website | www.aamva.org/tech-services/ |
Description
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) has provided a 18 different shared technology services for state motor vehicle agencies, including on-premises software and SaaS, for over twenty years. The bulk of the software facilitates exchanging driver, vehicle, and identity information between state agencies. AAMVA rests on the platform of “one driver, one license, one record.”
AAMVA is a non-profit organization that dates to 1933, when it was established to standardize driver’s licenses between states. Their members include all 50 states, Washington DC, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (plus Canadian territories and provinces). AAMVA worked with Congress to set up the foundation for the federal mandate to fund interstate connectivity to operationalize “one driver, one license”.
The “sweet spot” in AAMVA’s work is not building front-end systems, but building the back ends that power those front-end systems. Most of their applications are system-to-system (middleware between states), but they also have some SaaS. They do not develop much for the states specifically, but more the middleware, which addresses the common needs among all states. They produce both clients and servers – software installed by each state, and then a central server to communicate with them.
They report that 70 IT staff members perform software development and support, indicating a high level of in-house software deveopment (as opposed to outsourcing). Their services include Application Services, Network Services, Software Products, and Technology Standards.
They moved from outsourcing to hiring people, creating AAMVANet as a separate entity.
Each of their systems resulted from either demands from their members or new federal requirements. Each system has a governance body or a user group, and that makes decisions about their fee structure, both in terms of what they’re going to pass through as end-user fees and what they’re going to pay as member-customs.
They have [committees] (https://www.aamva.org/about/aamva-leadership/committees-working-groups) that define the [requirements] (https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/00549603-a3a4-4c2e-9a03-25d3a17f2c11/AAMVA-Standing-Committee-Manual_September-2016.pdf) for new programs.
Agreement on standards is vital (not just technical standards, but e.g. what license plates should look like), and it needs to be handled delicately – AAMVA members are voluntary, and AAMVA can’t compel them to do anything.