The Chair of the National eDA (electronic Development Assessment) Steering Committee requested the services of a consultant to undertake a brief study into the feasibility of a technical architecture solution to assist states and territories in the implementation of eDA that is compliant to the national eDAIS 2.1 (electronic Development Assessment Interoperability Specification version 2.1).

In October 2008, ICON Software was engaged to work with the National eDA Committee to undertake the study and delivered a concise report detailing the architecture that has now been referenced by the committee as the eDAIS specification has evolved over the last 4 years.

The immediate focus of the national eDA initiative is to streamline business processes related to development assessment processes. A valuable by-product of taking the assessment process online will be the ability to automate the monitoring of development activity and further reduce the cost of statutory reporting for both industry and all spheres of government (including the Commonwealth). 

The introduction of eDA systems will make it possible for government to reduce the cost of regulatory compliance to the industry, by bringing together all of the regulatory services relating to the proposed development and replacing the current time-consuming, complex and confusing manual processes with a ‘joined-up’, seamless service to applicants and determining authorities.
Electronic development assessment process systems will provide an online, largely paperless means for applicants to obtain a ‘statutory right’ for a development proposal and for the relevant agencies to fulfil their regulatory obligations in granting that ‘statutory right’.

An eDAIS compliant implementation of eDA will benefit the community, industry and government by:

• reducing time-related costs through reduced assessment cycle times and improved timeliness in activities;
• improving monitoring and transparency of planning and development activities, together with increased reporting capabilities;
• reducing complexities in planning and development processes, especially in interactions with multiple agencies;
• reducing administrative costs;
• enabling business process improvement, leading to improved productivity; and
• avoiding duplication of effort.