It has recently been announced that $100 million out of the Technology Modernization Fund (an initiative under the American Rescue Plan) will be used to help streamline and improve digital services for American citizens. The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration have prioritized citizen experience with this move, and now is the time for local governments across the nation to do the same by taking advantage of this funding.
Citizen self-service benefits local governments and the communities they serve since citizens can:
Online community development software allows citizens to remotely and conveniently submit building permit applications, planning applications, and complaints online – 24/7.
Citizens can access their information remotely when it exists online. They do not need to keep track of different papers and files on their desk but can instead have everything organized for them in their Cloudpermit account.
Citizens can ask questions and have conversations with their local government within Cloudpermit instead of on the phone, via email, or at the front counter. Everyone can send direct and group time-stamped messages which helps keep all parties involved, organized, and informed.
Travel to the office is no longer needed when every part of the building permit process can be done online. Citizens do not need to worry about the cost and time it takes to travel to the government office to participate in community development.
It is easy to keep citizens in the loop when they receive automatic status updates on their building permits and inspections. This eliminates the need for them to call or email to find out where their permit stands since they can either log into Cloudpermit to check or wait to be notified when their permit has moved onto the next stage.
Online community development software significantly speeds up how long it takes for a building permit to be issued. Cloudpermit speeds up building permit issuance by 80%, compared to paper-based systems.
Citizens often submit incomplete applications to their local government with traditional systems. Online software can force applicants to fill in all mandatory data entry fields to ensure all applications that are submitted to government staff are complete for an easy and user-friendly self-service experience.
Learn more about how online community development software can modernize your local government and empower your citizens with self-service here.