At Oracle Open World I had a chance to chat with Peggy White, CIO of the St Johns River Water Management District, and Jim Ren, who I’ve known for many years and who also is in IT at the SJRWMD, in northern Florida.  They described a very simple but effective way of improving the flow of information between land developers and the SJRWMD. 

Drainage Engineering Submittals: Paper-based Business Process

A land developer who plans to develop a plot of land larger than a certain size, 9000 sq ft I think Peggy said, are required to submit engineering drawings showing drainage plans.  Most of these engineering drawings are created using AutoCAD.  In the past the process was paper-based.  The developer printed or plotted the drawings and delivered them to the SJRWMD office.   An SJRWMD engineer  reviewed the engineering drawings, prepared a formal response outlining any changes in the design that may be necessary in the form of a letter which was sent to the developer.  The developer then made the changes and the process was repeated.  As you can imagine, this was a time consuming process.

Electronic Engineering Submittals

Peggy and her team have made a very simple change which is having a significant impact on the time it takes for the submittal and review process and which has efficiency benefits for both developers and the SJRWMD.  Applicants can now submit drawings electronically in the form of DWF files.  DWF is a light weight web format that is 1/10 or less the size of a DWG or DGN drawing file, can be sent across the web on a dial-up line, and can be generated by AutoCAD out of the box or by any Windows-based application with a free download.  The SJRWMD maintains a portal SJRWMD E-permitting where the DWF files can be uploaded.  SJRWMD engineers retrieve the DWF files from the portal server, and can review and redline the DWF sheets electronically using a desktop tool (Autodesk Design Review.)  The engineer prepares a letter response for the developer, and if modifications are required, the developer can make changes to the engineering design and resubmits a new DWF file.

Business Benefits

What impressed me about this it is a very simple and effective solution to an information flow problem.  It didn’t require an expensive investment in new technology by either the SJRWMD or the developers, but it significantly improves the flow of information, is more efficient, and speeds up the business process of getting drainage submittals approved.