The Inevitable Implication of eDAIS
The past decade or two has seen a complete transformation in the way development applications are lodged and processed. What was a completely paperbound process now relies on electronic systems to manage the approval process within Council and increasing adoption of online lodgement of applications. The only remaining paper bound part of the process is the decision notice which is printed, signed and mailed the old fashioned way.
Many Councils are now looking to close the loop by issuing development permits electronically.
Digitally signed development permits can be directly captured to your records system without the wasted effort and reduced fidelity of scanning a signed hard copy. You will also use less paper, save on printing costs and will waste less effort with a simplified outgoing mail process.
In making this transition it is important to ensure Council adopts a method for electronic signatures that is both simple and secure.
The most secure method for signing documents electronically uses the same standards that are used to secure all online banking and internet commerce. PKI digital signatures ensure:
You can start using a hosted digital signature service that avoids any need for capital purchases or upfront costs. You only pay for the documents you put through the service and costs are on par with the price of a stamp. Ensure you select a local provider to comply with privacy obligations. These videos demonstrate the simplicity of digitally signing your development permits.
On premise solutions are also available that allow you to sign documents from within your desktop software such as Office and Adobe Reader. These solutions also open up options to automate high volume tasks like signing large numbers of adjoining owners notifications.
2013 should be the year you start issuing digital development permits!
Click the ‘Ask Me Anything’ link above (it’s the “?” icon) if you’d like more information about how digital signatures work.
Can’t fall back asleep.
Grammar humour!
If nothing else social media has highlighted a lot of people’s grammar shortcomings… your and you’re, there and their etc… English; it’s a strange language.
“There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.” — Swedish saying
11th Hour Fiscal Cliff Deal Not Signed by Obama.
Even though it’s been hard to avoid hearing about the ‘fiscal cliff’ in the US, I still don’t really know what it’s all about. Too many other pressing issues on my mind over the summer break such as working out whether I should eat all the leftover sweet treats in a sustained binge or to exercise judicious restraint through to about Easter.
Despite my calculated indifference to the budgetary melodrama of the US government, this piece from The Verge slipped through my guard. The short version is that Obama didn’t personally sign the fiscal cliff legislation. He had more important things to do, places to be. So he used an autopen to faithfully transcribe his ‘john hancock’ on the deal. Reading this brought back deep childhood disappointment with the results of my efforts with a sketch-a-graph!
While the main article is mildly interesting, the comments were a stark reminder to me about how confused people’s thinking is around signatures. Intuitively we all understand that in an increasingly digital world, our autograph on a piece of paper is really the least useful way we can indicate our agreement or approval.
For some of the people using Secured Signing to digitally sign electronic documents, the key thing is to be able to sign things while they are out of the office. It’s certainly a much cheaper option than Obama’s autopen!
“A simple but powerful tool” to preserve Kuku Yalanji Cultural Heritage.
The Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation is responsible for the cultural heritage protection and management for the Western Yalanji people. This is a process that intrinsically acknowledges the importance of ‘place’ which make mapping an important tool.
Paul Fisk, Executive Officer of the Corporation shared the ways in which ShareMap is used in their planning and field operations. ”We find it to be a relatively simple but powerful tool and it has greatly enhanced our capacity to collect and store data… and as an aid in the presentation of information and in consultation with the community.”
For more information about the ways in which ShareMap is being used and plans for its future use, grab a copy of Paul’s letter to the guys at SDX.
Image: Tourism Australia
[video]
[video]
You have 3.4 hours, time starts now... -
This blog post from Craig Thomler concludes that if a criticism of Council is posted online, the discussion is all over in less than 4 hours. That carefully worded, legally vetted response approved by three levels of management you post 2 days later… Irrelevant!
[video]
[video]