Thanks to Ann Higgins for the heads up on this nice municipal broadband application near Denver…

Last summer a terrible hail storm hit Jefferson County Colorado, which usually mean a secondary storm of work and waiting for approvals for repairs. But…

Earlier in 2009, the county acquired a mobile tool that allows inspectors and other remote staff to access information on permits, licenses, properties and more, without having to return to the office. Using Amanda Mobile, part of a larger business performance platform called Amanda, field inspectors now have full access to key data: blueprints, site plans, GPS apps, work schedules and other information.

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Last year, the storms in Jefferson County led to nearly 7,500 reroofing permit requests worth $1.1 million in fees. With the ability to access or file reports in the field, local government workers had an advantage they never had before — the ability to respond to requests without returning to the office and to share to-do lists with other inspectors to get jobs done faster. In last summer’s storm, fewer than two dozen inspectors managed a workload four times greater than the previous year.

Peck said Jefferson County paid $356,000 for the Amanda platform, which includes Amanda Mobile. Ten local divisions, such as the fire districts and health department, have been using various products from the vendor for the last 10 years.