everis will develop an IT system to electronically process building permits in Puerto Rico. The project, awarded by the Caribbean island's Planning Board (PB) through an official tender, will cost US$2.2 million and will be carried out in three phases, lasting over a year.
The objective of the new system is to accommodate the new Permit Act, substantially reduce administrative burdens, and allow processes to be performed electronically. The new deployment, called egoveris, will be developed by more than 20 professionals who will work from Puerto Rico and Spain. It is part of a broader program for comprehensive reform of the system. everis has extensive experience in the area of public administration modernization and has developed e-government platforms across Latin America and Europe. Among these is eGOVeris, focused on file processing and built on a reliable, modern and secure technology based on free software and SOA, serving as the foundation for development of management applications. This expertise has enabled everis to submit a competitive bid by the strict deadline set by the Puerto Rican government.
And so, last December, Puerto Rico governor Luis Fortuño ratified the new Permit Act, an initiative aiming to streamline approval of building projects in order to stimulate economic activity. The new law establishes permit approval by a single government agency, which will now be called the Permit Management Office (Spanish initials: OGPE). The newly adopted rules state that building permits in Puerto Rico must be approved within 90 days.