Collaboration Tool for Compliance Processing
A computer system is described which facilitates the collaboration of participants involved in regulation/policy compliance. The system comprises two systems: a central regulation compliance system; and a collaboration forum. The central regulation compliance system is integrated with the collaboration forum to facilitate the assessment/survey process in order to attend to issues relating to actual or potential occurrences of non-compliance with regulatory/policy requirements.
1 . A method for managing compliance requirements comprising operating a system of computers to perform steps of:
a first computer system generating a compliance assessment workflow comprising a plurality of compliance-related action items relating to conformance to a plurality of compliance requirements;
the first computer system transmitting information relating to the compliance assessment workflow to a second computer system to initiate a collaborative process in the second computer system to process the compliance assessment workflow;
the second computer system, responsive to the first computer system, conducting the collaborative process, including:
transmitting messages to a plurality of participants who are identified based on the compliance requirements, each message including one or more of the compliance-related action items; and
coordinating a conference among conferees comprising one or more of the participants, the coordinating including:
receiving from one or more of the conferees responses to the compliance-related action items; and
presenting to the conferees the responses to the compliance-related action items for further consideration by the conferees, thereby enabling collaboration among the conferees to decide on a resolution for each of the compliance-related action items;
the second computer system storing results of the collaborative process when resolutions of the compliance-related action items have been decided; and
the second computer system communicating to the first computer system an indication that the collaborative process has completed.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the compliance requirements are government regulations or government policies.
3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the first computer receiving an instruction from a user to generate the compliance assessment workflow.
4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the first computer receiving data indicative of non-compliance of the compliance requirements and the first computer assessing the data, wherein generating the compliance assessment workflow is based on an outcome of assessing the data.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein identification of the one or more participants is further based on one or more rules.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein identification of the one or more participants is further based on an expert system.
7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the second computer system receiving information about additional participants, wherein the conferees further comprise one or more of the additional participants.
8 . A compliance management system comprising:
a first computer system; and
a second computer system,
the first computer system configured to:
generate a compliance assessment workflow comprising a plurality of compliance-related action items relating to conformance to a plurality of compliance requirements; and
transmit information relating to the compliance assessment workflow to a second computer system to initiate a collaborative process in the second computer system to process the compliance assessment workflow;
the second computer system configured to:
transmit messages to a plurality of participants who are identified based on the compliance requirements, each message including one or more of the compliance-related action items; and
coordinate a conference among conferees comprising one or more of the participants, the coordinating including:
receive from one or more of the conferees responses to the compliance-related action items; and
present to the conferees the responses to the compliance-related action items for further consideration by the conferees, thereby enabling collaboration among the conferees to decide on a resolution for each of the compliance-related action items;
store results of the collaborative process when resolutions of the compliance-related action items have been decided; and
communicate to the first computer system an indication that the collaborative process has completed.
9 . The system of claim 8 wherein the second computer system is further configured to provide services that are accessed by the first computer system to receive the information relating to the compliance assessment workflow.
10 . The system of claim 8 wherein the compliance requirements are government regulations or government policies.
11 . The system of claim 8 wherein the first computer system is further configured to receive an instruction from a user to generate the compliance assessment workflow.
12 . The system of claim 8 wherein the first computer is further configured to receive data indicative of non-compliance of the compliance requirements, wherein the compliance assessment workflow is generated based on an outcome of assessing the data.
13 . The system of claim 8 wherein identification of the one or more participants is further based on one or more rules.
14 . The system of claim 8 wherein identification of the one or more participants is further based on an expert system.
15 . A compliance management system comprising:
a first computer including means for generating a compliance assessment workflow comprising a plurality of compliance-related action items relating to conformance to a plurality of compliance requirements;
the first computer including means for transmitting information relating to the compliance assessment workflow to a second computer system to initiate a collaborative process in the second computer system to process the compliance assessment workflow;
the second computer including means, responsive to the first computer system, for conducting the collaborative process, including:
means for transmitting messages to a plurality of participants who are identified based on the compliance requirements, each message including one or more of the compliance-related action items; and
means for coordinating a conference among conferees comprising one or more of the participants, including:
means for receiving from one or more of the conferees responses to the compliance-related action items; and
means for presenting to the conferees the responses to the compliance-related action items for further consideration by the conferees, thereby enabling collaboration among the conferees to decide on a resolution for each of the compliance-related action items;
the second computer further including means for storing results of the collaborative process when resolutions of the compliance-related action items have been decided; and
the second computer further including means for communicating to the first computer system an indication that the collaborative process has completed.
16 . The system of claim 15 wherein the compliance requirements are government regulations or government policies.
17 . The system of claim 15 wherein the first computer further includes means for receiving an instruction from a user to generate the compliance assessment workflow.
18 . The system of claim 15 wherein the first computer further includes means for receiving data indicative of non-compliance of the compliance requirements and the first computer assessing the data, wherein generating the compliance assessment workflow is based on an outcome of assessing the data.
19 . The system of claim 15 wherein identification of the one or more participants is further based on one or more rules.
20 . The system of claim 15 wherein identification of the one or more participants is further based on an expert system.