The buildingeye solution provides a publicly accessible, searchable map of city building and planning data, along with an “alerts” option that allows users to receive updates about certain kinds of activity happening in a city. That means anyone with a computer could create alerts to see new permits Apple has pulled for its second campus in the northeast corner of the city.
Not that that’s the only way to use the app.
“We know that our residents lead busy lives,” Mayor Savita Vaidhyanathan said in a statement. “This new tool will save them an extra trip to city hall to visit our planning and building counter. We expect that buildingeye will improve how our citizens, business owners and contractors access planning and building data.”
The city’s contract with buildingeye shows that it purchased a three-year package from the company for $43,000: $5,000 to set up the system and $19,000 for each of the first two years of service. The third year came free through the deal.
The company agreed to handle 50,000 alert emails per month per department for free, but the city can choose to pay extra for a larger alert capacity.
The surrounding San Francisco Bay Area has been buildingeye’s most active stomping ground. It participated in San Francisco’s Startup in Residence program in 2014, and operates in other municipalities in the area like Redwood City and Alameda.
“We're in 15 cities, but in multiple departments in each city,” buildingeye Founder Ciaran Gilsenan told Government Technology via email. “In some cases like Pittsburgh, it's building, planning, code enforcement and business licenses. Others like Cupertino, it’s building and planning.”
Outside California, buildingeye has worked with governments in Oregon, Montana, Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
The company, which launched in 2012, is in the seed funding stage.
