Tigani describes DOB Now upgrades and Buildings Tech Lab pilots
Tigani outlines technology efforts including DOB Now enhancements, drone inspections, and the Buildings Tech Lab, noting 609 active inspectors with an 8% vacancy rate, and plans to engage Ptolemy for predictive analytics on violation-prone actors and GRIPS for a unified enforcement data dashboard.
Lastly, I'd like to touch upon technology and innovation and what DOB is doing in that space to improve operations, efficiency, and safety.
Expanding the city's available housing supply remains a priority for this administration.
Further, the department's work as it relates to commercial development directly impacts the creation of jobs and the industries that provide essential services to New Yorkers.
Therefore, it is paramount that we have the technological capacity to support and keep pace with development in the city.
That includes implementing enhancements to the available modules and functionality in DOB Now, as well as exploring ways technology could facilitate faster building inspections, such as with the use of drones.
We are continuing our work with the Buildings Tech Lab, a public-private initiative with the Partnership Fund for New York City.
The Buildings Tech Lab connects technology companies with DOB, subject matter experts, with the goal of identifying, developing, and testing technologies to streamline our processes and improve operations.
Through the Building Tech Lab, DOB is utilizing software to more efficiently route inspectors.
That means we are able to respond to a larger number of sites.
That happens in a shorter time frame overall.
More efficient routing coupled with our high inspectorial staffing level of 609 active inspectors, 14 in the pipeline, and the vacancy rate of 8% overall results in increased productivity and potentially increased safety.
This fall, the OB plans to engage formally with two firms, Ptolemy and Gripes, to develop the test software to help our enforcement team promote safety on construction sites and in existing buildings.
Ptolemy will focus on using predictive analytics to identify violation-prone actors in the construction and real estate industries and support our enforcement investigations with a particular focus on cases of 10 harassment.
GRIPS will help bring all agency data into one dashboard to streamline our enforcement operations.
Next year, we plan to engage several more firms through the tech lab to support other aspects of our enforcement mission.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a lot of testimony before you today.
We welcome any questions you may have, and now I'll take a breath.