As state and local governments work through how best to supervise and support emerging industries like legalized cannabis and short-term Airbnb style rentals, new technology is coming to market to support that. Today, Accela launched standalone administrative modules for cannabis and short-term rentals on its government services platform.
As CivSource reported in January, Accela has been working with Denver and California on a cannabis licensing and permitting module, designed to help local governments regulate this new industry. The cannabis permitting program will now be available to all government users following the success of its two initial launch projects.
“We are seeing local and state governments experience a tough time navigating new innovations and industries driven by regulatory and technological change,” says Ed Daihl, CEO of Accela, adding that by making new modules available to all users on the platform they can offer local policymakers the ability to be more responsive to changes in local industry.
Eight states already have recreational cannabis on the books and at least twelve more are considering cannabis legalization in 2018. Local government leaders are looking at how to navigate these uncharted waters. Technology is also supporting the growth of short-term rentals through applications like Airbnb or HomeAway, which make it easy for homeowners to share their space. The advent of the short-term rental market has created a number of headaches for local regulators concerned about safety and the creation of illegal hotels.
The Accela Civic Application for Short-Term Rental Licensing will be offered to users on the Accela platform following successful projects in Denver and Dubai. Both cities experienced increased rates of registration and growing tax revenue after providing hosts a means to comply with local regulations.
Today’s announcement follows the creation of the Accela Center of Expertise (ACE), an internal team of policy experts and business leaders that are working through how to create additional software solutions for local government that are responsive to changes in the economy.
