Government Technology Awards California Departments for IT Collaboration on Cannabis

SAN RAMON, Calif., Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Accela, the leading provider of cloud-based productivity solutions for government, congratulated California for winning Government Technology's 2018 Best of California award for information technology collaboration. California's Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Public Health and the state's Department of Technology worked together to successfully launch a seamless recreational cannabis and permitting system that was built on Accela's Civic Solution for Cannabis Regulation.

"We congratulate California for their successful cannabis regulation and permitting program and are proud to be part of the team that solved a complex IT challenge for the state. Today's award is further acknowledgement of all the hard work and tenacity that went into launching a recreational cannabis market in under a year," said Accela's Director of Cannabis Regulation Judy Steele. "Accela is proud to provide modern, easy-to-use applications for cannabis and other complicated emerging regulatory challenges."

Jason Piccione, CIO of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, said in the announcement that Accela's solution represented a milestone for the state in terms of technology and interagency collaboration.

"Accela was a new product for our portfolio, so there are intrinsic challenges in that," Piccione  said. "This was also one of our first forays into a cloud-hosted regulatory system of record. That posed new considerations. Would performance be an issue? Did we have contractual agreements that protected the state in terms of uptime and performance? Those were all considerations."

After California voters legalized the sale and distribution of cannabis in the state, government regulators faced a daunting task to build a framework to transform an unregulated industry into a legal market in just one year. With an estimated $5 billion market and $1 billion in local and state tax revenue at stake, the California turned to trusted experts to make it happen. California selected Accela to build its cannabis licencing and permitting solution in February 2017. With close collaboration of the state departments and by using agile methodology the solution went live, meeting all deadlines and objectives.

As the country becomes more "green" through changes in cannabis regulation, state and local governments are gearing up for what's next. Nine states and D.C. already have recreational cannabis on the books and at least twelve more are considering cannabis legalization. Accela's industry-leading robust, agile SaaS solutions are built to scale with community needs whether its cannabis, short-term rental or other emerging industries.

About Accela
Accela provides market-leading SaaS solutions that empower state and local governments to build thriving communities, attract and grow businesses, and protect citizens. From planning, building, licensing and permitting, to asset and service request management, finance, environmental health and more, Accela's SaaS offerings level the playing field for small and medium governments and enable small agencies to use the same software as the big cities. Accela's solutions serve more than 80 percent of America's largest cities. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with additional offices around the world. For more information, visit www.accela.com.

Contact: Jason Shueh, (925) 659-3200, [email protected]

SOURCE Accela