That’s among the technology-related moves in a new executive order from Gov. Mikie Sherrill, inaugurated Tuesday.
It calls for a “cross-agency permitting team” within the Office of the Chief Operating Officer. That team will seek to streamline the state’s permitting process to reduce delays and costs and boost customer service and transparency, according to the order.
Part of the effort involves creating a permitting dashboard, described by the order as “an interactive, online portal displaying the status and progress of state permit applications for projects in the state of New Jersey.”
The dashboard would allow permit application tracking and other services and be part of a “one-stop shop” for permit application questions and similar needs.
If that sounds familiar, there is good reason: Other state and local governments are using digital and mobile tech, including artificial intelligence, to update their own permitting activities, especially as many areas of the country experience high housing costs and related shortages of dwellings.
State governments also are creating online portals for a variety of other tasks, not just permitting and licensing.
The executive order from Sherrill says the new permitting team will craft “presumptive permitting application process timeframes” — more memorably called “shot clocks” — to help improve permitting.
Other tasks assigned to the team include working with local governments on permitting, analyzing the types of permits and the approval process and rethinking what it means to have a “complete application.”
Besides permitting, the executive order calls for the creation of a “regulatory simplification team” that, among other work, will study how AI and other technology can “streamline and expedite regulatory review while still protecting residents and the environment.”
Sherrill also has ordered that the state produce an interactive, public-facing online “report card” portal that will tell residents about spending and service delivery.
Sherrill might be new to her job but she takes over leadership of a state that has been pretty active in tech in recent weeks.
For instance, her predecessor, Phil Murphy, recently signed a deal with AI chip maker NVIDIA — one of the world’s most valuable tech companies — to support artificial intelligence advancement in New Jersey.
About two weeks before he left office, Murphy also signed a bill that renamed the state’s Office of Innovation, launched in 2018, as the New Jersey Innovation Authority — and made it a permanent entity.
