2011 NASCIO Awards Nomination Presented by, the State of Rhode Island June 1, 2011
SECTION B - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Representatives from DEM s Fish and Wildlife Division collaborated with the RI.gov project management and Web development team to create a fully automated online saltwater fishing licensing system. The system is an online tool that allows recreational fisherman of RI marine waters to purchase and print licenses using a credit card 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To obtain a license, users may go to https://www.ri.gov/dem/saltwater/ to submit their name, address, phone number, driver s license or permit or identification card number, and date of birth. Users will pay a set license fee via credit card. Immediately, users are able to print their license and begin fishing in RI marine waters. License holders are able to fish legally in RI marine waters, all federal waters and all reciprocal state marine waters throughout southern New England. The cost of a yearly RI license is $7 for Rhode Island residents, and $10 for nonresidents. A temporary seven-day RI license is available, for both residents and nonresidents, for $5. Fishermen over the age of 65 years, those permanently disabled, and those on leave from active military duty will not be charged. Free reprints are also available using the licensee s driver s license or state identification card, date of birth and zip code. The State of Rhode Island contracts with RI.gov to manage www.ri.gov and to grow available Web services. RI.gov operates under a self-funded model and agencies can take advantage of resources at no cost. SECTION C - DESCRIPTION OF THE SOLUTION The Problem The RI Saltwater Fishing Registry program came about from new legislation enacted in the beginning of 2010. RI General Law 20-2.2-4 states, a) It shall be unlawful for any person to fish recreationally in the marine waters of Rhode Island without: (1) A recreational fishing license issued in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; There were five goals/challenges faced with promoting the new Program met with a collaboration of efforts by the RI Department of Environmental Management, Fish and Wildlife Division (RI DEM) and Rhode Island Interactive (RI.gov). The first challenge was to create a web application to produce a saltwater fishing license from home. The second was to produce a web application for vendors to produce a saltwater fishing license at their store location. The third was to create public awareness of the new law requiring a saltwater fishing license. The fourth was to create a platform that clearly explained the difference between the RI program and the Federal
Saltwater Fishing Registry, which was free in 2010 and recognized in RI. The fifth was signing on vendors to help sell licenses at their store location via an incentive program. The Solution RI contracts with RI.gov to manage www.ri.gov and to grow available Web services. RI.gov operates under a self-funded model and agencies can take advantage of resources at no cost. The RI DEM approached RI.gov to develop and support a licensing system for 2010. The system allows resident and non-resident fisherman to purchase a license online permitting an individual to recreationally fish in marine waters of Rhode Island. The second phase added a component that allows participating vendors to sell saltwater fishing licenses at store locations. The partnership spares DEM customer service responsibilities, as RI.gov offers email and phone support to customers during business hours. RI.gov also assumes all marketing and training duties, in addition to the Web development, design, and ongoing hosting provided. The online application program has also spared the use of reams of paper historically necessary for the licensing process. To foster public awareness, the RI DEM, under RI.gov consultation, created www.saltwater.ri.gov, a site explaining the specifics of RI General Law 20-2.2-4 and the differences of the free Federal Registry licenses. The site confirms that the money collected from the RI Registry goes back to funding the Division of Fish and Wildlife programs. There are also links to the licensing application and a list of participating vendors. To further promote services, RI.gov and the RI DEM coordinated a press release that received media attention. The RI DEM also demonstrated the licensing application at the 2010 New England Saltwater Fishing Expo, the largest Saltwater Fishing Expo in the Northeast. To attract potential vendors, the RI DEM created an incentive program that allows vendors to retain a portion of the licensing fee for every license sold. RI.gov facilitated the vendor system training along with authoring an accompanying user guide. The DEM/RI.GOV Partnership The entire project, totaling four months in duration: April 2010 to June 2010 from conception, through analysis and launch was completed at no direct cost to state government and all development, design and hosting costs were assumed by RI.gov. As the state s official Web provider, RI.gov is responsible for RI.gov, the state s Web home page, and 80+ online services currently available in Rhode Island. Rhode Island Interactive is a wholly owned, Providence-based subsidiary of the egovernment firm NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV).
Due to Rhode Island Interactive s unique funding model, all project management; design, development, hosting and marketing are offered at no cost to the state. This is true of all services provided. RI.gov s operational costs are funded by nominal enhanced access fee associated with some RI.gov online services. Funds generated support the above-referenced customer service and modifications to the application; additionally, these funds help support RI.gov s enterprise as a whole. RI.gov and the state identify projects collaboratively. Generally, RI.gov assumes project management responsibilities, and is required to report progress to the partner agency and to RI.gov s state oversight board, comprised of members assigned by the state s Chief Information Officer. A RI.gov project manager led the DEM application launch in spring 2010. A project plan was submitted for state approval, a work breakdown structure was created, and work milestones reported to the DEM project team. These milestones include incorporating Web best practices to the extent possible; for the DEM application, this included Federal Section 508 Priority Level I accessibility and PCI/DSS Level I credit card payment security. SECTION D - SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT The number of licenses sold measures the marketing success of the new Rhode Island Saltwater Registry program. Even though there was a free Federal Saltwater Fishing License Registry that is lawfully recognized and the RI license carries a fee of $7 for the calendar year for resident licenses, a $10 per calendar year for non-resident licenses, and a $5 temporary seven-day license option, the new service was instantly popular more than 275 licenses were issued online in the first 24 hours. From mid April 2010, when services launched, to the end of the 2010 calendar year, December 31 st, there were approximately 15,697 licenses sold in total. Of those 15,697 licenses, 14,114 were from the online web application and 1583 were from the 7 vendors that signed up to participate to sell licenses in their store. Out of the 15,697 licenses, 7707 were the $7 resident calendar year license, 2845 were the $10 per calendar year non-resident licenses, 831 were 5-day temporary licenses sold for $5 each. The remaining licenses were free licenses for seniors over 65 years of age and active-duty military. The free federal registry did report higher numbers of 31,903 registrants with an intention of fishing in RI marine waters and an overall nationwide total (not including RI) of 62,559 registrants. Overall, RI fee-based saltwater fishing licenses boasted half of the free Federal Registry Program registrations.
SECTION E - BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT More Convenient for Customers RI.gov custom built a 100% web based licensing system available 24 hours. The application generates a printable license to be used to legally fish in RI marine waters. The system is the sole source of purchasing a saltwater fishing license. Users are required to print the license and carry on their physical self while fishing as proof of legal compliance. A license reprint is also available at no cost in the event that a user has lost their physical printout. As well, a custom built component of the licensing system was the vendor system. The system allows vendors to sell saltwater fishing licenses at their location and retain a portion of the proceeds as incentive. The Saltwater Fishing Licensing application as a government solution provides the following service benefits: it reduces the amount of paper processing & manual entry, reduces the number of incomplete forms and provides automatic calculation, online reporting and improves overall customer service. As a business solution, the Saltwater Fishing Licensing application provides the following service benefits: it provides quicker turnaround for citizens to receive their saltwater fishing license, new licenses can be registered instantly, promotes more secure payment options, allows payment by Visa or MasterCard through a secure payment server and finally, it allows us to provide a higher level of service that citizens have come to expect from an online checkout. The overall service benefits are increased speed, accuracy and convenience for the State and its consumers.