City licensing e-gov applications

Cities seeking ready-made electronic permitting, engineering management and reservation systems can buy a license to use a suite of applications already developed by Sunnyvale, Calif.

The application software is available through GovPartner, an e-government solutions provider in San Diego. The Sunnyvale City Council on Sept. 27 approved a re-licensing agreement with Berryman & Henigar Inc., a municipal professional services firm and parent of GovPartner. The move came after a half-dozen cities approached the city about buying its applications, said Michelle Kvandal, senior vice president for GovPartner.

Sunnyvale will receive royalties and free software maintenance, enhancements and support that will allow it to divert resources to other applications, she said.

Sunnyvale's software suite includes:

* e-Permits, a web-enabled permitting application that enables the public to apply, pay for and obtain a number of building-related permits via the Internet.

* SunGIS, a Microsoft SQL Server-based planning, building safety, and code enforcement management system.

* Parks and Recreation software, an online facility reservation system.

In-house information technology staff developed SunGIS and the Parks and Recreation package, while the e-Permits software was the result of a joint effort with Carta Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

In a related move, Leland Vandiver, Sunnyvale's manager of networking and data systems, joined GovPartner Oct. 2 as chief technology officer, Kvandal said. Vandiver managed the development of the Sunnyvale software suites.

Vandiver's selection by GovPartner gave city officials added confidence to go through with the deal, said Sunnyvale CIO Shawn Hernandez.

GovPartner provides e-government solutions for small to midsize city, county, and other government agencies. Sunnyvale has a population of 130,000.