Initiative is part of overall strategy to make licensing & permitting efficient and easy
Governor Lincoln D. Chafee, the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR) Director Paul McGreevy and Office of Digital Excellence Chief Digital Officer Thom Guertin rolled out the State's new eLicensing System today (January 2, 2014) at the Rhode Island Association of Realtors' headquarters in Warwick.
Streamlining and updating the process of working with government is part of an overall strategy by the Office of Digital Excellence, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) and the Department of Business Regulation to make all forms of licensing and permitting simpler and more convenient. Together they have developed a full-service, one-stop around-the-clock opportunity to make doing business in Rhode Island seamless.
"This type of streamlined process is a key project that ensures government is more productive, and sends a message beyond our borders that we are working toward creating a simpler and easier environment for businesses," Governor Chafee said. "I congratulate the Department of Business Regulation, the Office of Digital Excellence and the Division of Information Technology for forging a strong and successful partnership that ensured this important initiative came to fruition."
The Office of Digital Excellence and DoIT are in the process of preparing for the roll out of similar projects in other parts of government, including an ePermitting solution which can be adapted to individual municipalities.
"We're continuing to look for new ways to make the licensing process more efficient. The Department of Business Regulation was able to consolidate a number of the processes to save time and implement a system that is easy to use," Thom Guertin, Chief Digital Officer, Rhode Island's Office of Digital Excellence (ODE), said. "We're looking forward to reviewing the results, and continuing to introduce improvements with the input of Rhode Island businesses." "Now Rhode Islanders who need this service have up-to-date technology that saves time and is easy to use," John E. Landers, Rhode Island's Chief Information Officer, Division of Information Technology (DoIT), said. "We moved quickly on completing this project so licensees have access to everything they need."
With the Department of Business Regulations online project up and running, the public and business owners now have 24/7 access to obtaining and renewing licenses offered by DBR. The eLicensing resource is located at www.dbr.ri.gov.
"One of the primary objectives of this project was to enhance customer service," Paul McGreevy, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, said. "By understanding the needs of our license holders and the public, we now have an eLicensing system to meet the expectations of our customers."
The new DBR website covers more than 43,000 licenses for appraisers, architects, auctioneers, auto body shops, Board of Accountancy, charitable organizations, professional fundraisers, franchises, liquor, mobile home parks, professional engineers, landscape architects, land surveyors, racing and athletics, real estate, time shares and upholstery. Every one of the licenses for either an individual or a company is now located online in one account.
"In the real estate field, eLicensing has brought efficiency and simplicity to procedures previously unavailable and time-consuming," Susan Arnold, Chief Executive Officer for the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, said. "Real estate professionals can now do everything they need for their business in one bucket."