New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Jonathan Mintz and Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT) Commissioner Paul J. Cosgrave today rolled out two new technological initiatives to improve the city's customer service, slash government red tape and ease the regulatory burden on small business owners in New York City -- delivering the first of a series of initiatives that the mayor promised New Yorkers in his 2008 State of the City address on Thursday. Speaking from a laundry in Queens -- one of the small businesses benefiting from the city's technology initiatives -- Bloomberg's presentation is also available on video by dialup or broadband links.

Business licensing at the Department of Consumer Affairs is now faster and more convenient for New York City small businesses because online business license renewal forms are available for business owners to submit any time and from anywhere. In addition, 311 has been expanded to empower New Yorkers to check the status of a 311 service request on the Web at http://www.nyc.gov, and to give New Yorkers the option of receiving a confirmation email from 311 with both their service request number and a link to the tracking site.

These technological enhancements will be followed by other major and technological improvements to public safety, government accountability and transparency, and customer service throughout the coming year. The mayor, Commissioner Mintz and Commissioner Cosgrave joined small business owner Xin Li at his East Elmhurst Laundromat, Li's Laundromat, to announce these programs.

"Over the past six years we have remained committed to our goal of bringing government to the people and transforming their contact with city government into a more accessible and efficient experience," said Mayor Bloomberg.  "By cutting red tape for small businesses, and providing easier access to information, we continue to use technology and innovation to streamline city services and make government more transparent and accountable."

The Department of Consumer Affairs has begun making it easier for business owners to renew their business licenses on the City's official Web site. The new online license renewal form provides many businesses convenience and flexibility as they will no longer be required to come to the licensing center. This significantly decreases the amount of time businesses have to wait for their data to be processed. Based on DCA's license renewal calendar, three major categories of business so far have had the opportunity to use this new service, including home-improvement salespersons, tobacco retail dealers and laundry service providers. When the online renewal form was launched in two pilot phases late last year, almost 20,000 businesses licensed by DCA were eligible for online renewal service.

By the end of 2008, 70 percent of the over 60,000 businesses DCA licenses citywide will be able to submit renewal applications on www.nyc.gov. This year, DCA will expand its online services to include self-service online forms for businesses with existing licenses that need to update changes in their information, like the mailing address or phone number. The department expects to launch this form in the summer. This fall, DCA also plans to add an application for a new business license on its Web site.