LYNN – The Inspectional Services Department (ISD) is looking to change the city’s online portal system for permitting and licensing processes.
The city currently uses a software called SmartGov that allows business owners and residents to start permitting and licensing applications, pay application fees, and to review upcoming inspections and results. However, Inspectional Services Chief and Building Commissioner Bret Bennett Jr. says that one of his “biggest challenges” is dealing with barriers that SmartGov causes with applications. Therefore, he and his team are making efforts to transition to a new software called OpenGov.
“We’re in the midst of exploring some other options to make it easier for the residents and business owners of Lynn to interact and streamline things,” Bennett Jr. said at a government affairs meeting on Oct. 8. “OpenGov is more user-friendly. SmartGov is good, but it’s more designer-focused. It’s harder to find things.”
Bennett Jr. said a main advantage of OpenGov is its interactive chatroom feature that allows for quicker communication in one spot. With SmartGov, ISD does not receive a notification if an applicant is missing a document. The team then has to email the applicant, wait for the document, and manually upload it to SmartGov’s portal.
“It’s just too many steps. More steps than it should be,” Bennett Jr. said.
OpenGov is currently being used by nearby municipalities such as Marblehead, Swampscott, and Reading.
“Everybody’s jumping on board with this system, so it’s definitely one of the top priorities of mine. We’re in contract with SmartGov right now, but it’s definitely something we want to move forward on and find a way to make it work,” Bennett Jr. said.
He added, “With over 100,000 buildings in the city, there’s a lot of information on SmartGov, so we want to make sure it’s a seamless transition. We’ve been talking to OpenGov to try to work out some prices to get everything moved over. Trying to make it work with budgets and everything is obviously a challenge. But we’ll push through and figure out how we can make it happen.”
