Hansen Snares a Deal With Chicago

By Jennifer Freer, Staff Writer


JULY 11 ? Hansen Information Technologies of Sacramento, Calif., has been awarded a contract by the city of Chicago to provide a citywide system for inspection, permitting and code enforcement requirements. Terms of the contract, announced July 10, were not disclosed.


Chicago will combine the operations of more than 15 separate city business units into the Hansen enterprise system over the next three years. Chicago will use the Hansen solution to schedule inspections, track and report results, process violations, and generate bills and notices. It also will use hand-held devices to gather data in the field by inspectors.


"The flexibility that the system offers was key to our decision to go with Hansen," said Christopher O'Brien, Chicago's chief information officer. The Hansen system was able to meet the needs of each of the city's bureaus with a single system and common database, he said.


The first rollout of this application will be in the Department of Buildings and the Fire Prevention Bureau in 2001, with other city departments soon to follow.


"Chicago is the type of account that will showcase the strengths of the Hansen solution," said Chuck Hansen, company president and chief executive officer. "The enormous volume of data and number of users that we are able to support is yet another important item that sets us apart from the competition."


Hansen has more than 150 employees and serves more than 200 state and local governments in the United States and abroad.