New BasicGov GIS Connector Released for State and Local Governments

April 20, 2011, Vancouver, BC - BasicGov Systems, Inc. has launched BasicGov GIS Connector software to provide local and state governments visually based tools to better manage land and citizen management functions such as land use, zoning, parcels, permits, inspections, plans, or code violations.

The BasicGov GIS Connector integrates into the ESRI GIS system (V9.2+) and organizes land use and community development information, such as parcels and permits, as layers on existing ESRI and Google Earth maps. With this additional visual map layer, government employees in multiple departments have graphical information to assist with complex land use analysis, solutions and decisions. For more information about the GIS Connector product click here .

Michael Togyi, Vice President, BasicGov added “BasicGov software automates and streamlines processes for state and local governments. Agencies that use our software find that they can speed up services to citizens, improve productivity and reduce costs. Recognizing that complex information is easier to analyze visually, we added the BasicGov ESRI GIS Connector to our suite of software products. Customer feedback on the GIS Connector has been very positive.”

About BasicGov

BasicGov Systems, Inc. develops, sells and supports web-based software for cities, counties, state governments and government agencies to streamline permitting and inspections, code enforcement, planning, licensing and citizen access. BasicGov is a reliable, secure solution delivered for an affordable price and the only web-based software for local governments built on the Salesforce.com Force.com platform, the backbone of cloud computing solutions used by more than 70,000 organizations worldwide. Unlike enterprise software that is expensive to acquire and difficult to implement, BasicGov requires no capital investment and is easy to set up.

The Reality of Implementing Green Buildings in Cities Webinar is the First in a Series of Educational Webinars Hosted by BasicGov

March 1, 2011, Vancouver, BC - BasicGov Systems, Inc., provider of software for local and state governments, is hosting and moderating a series of complimentary educational webinars in 2011.

The first webinar “The reality of implementing green buildings programs in your city” was held on Wednesday, February 23, 11 am PST / 2 pm EST with over 100 participants. A recording of the webinar along with questions and answers will be published.

In this webinar, attendees heard from green building construction experts, Chris Cheatham and Robert Kobet, about how to establish an effective approach to planning and implementing green buildings codes in your municipality. BasicGov moderated the webinar and speakers discussed the International Green Construction Code, LEED-based regulations as well as best practices for implementing a green building code.

In the webinar "The reality of implementing green buildings programs in your city" these areas were highlighted:

• Green building standards – How LEED and the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) relate.

• What other local governments are doing with green buildings and what’s the right approach for your city (Richland, Washington; State of Rhode Island; City of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Washington DC).

• Best practices for implementation to ensure green building code regulations are met.

For more information about IGCC click here

and for more information about CALGreen click here

.

About Webinar Speakers

Chris Cheatham and partner Bob Korbet work with government agencies in planning, management and implementing green building practices effectively, while adhering to regulations and avoiding pitfalls.

• Chris Cheatham: Chris is a Green Building Construction Consultant and Attorney and publisher of the acclaimed Green Building Law Update, a blog dedicated to emerging legal and regulatory issues in the green building industry. He has advised multiple municipalities regarding green building regulations and he is a frequent speaker on the topic. www.greenbuildinglawupdate.com

• Bob Kobet: Bob is LEED Faculty, and CEO of The Kobet Collaborative. Bob’s impact on the built environment spans several decades over a wide area of influence. His green building and sustainable community development projects around the world range from small non-profit endeavors to multi-million dollar developments. www.bobkobet.com

About BasicGov

BasicGov Systems, Inc. develops, sells and supports web-based software for cities, counties, state governments and government agencies to streamline permitting and inspections, code enforcement, planning, licensing and citizen access. BasicGov is a reliable, secure solution delivered for an affordable price and the only web-based software for local governments built on the Salesforce.com Force.com platform, the backbone of cloud computing solutions used by more than 70,000 organizations worldwide. Unlike enterprise software that is expensive to acquire and difficult to implement, BasicGov requires no capital investment and is easy to set up.

California’s City of Beaumont uses BasicGov to incorporate four city departments on one integrated database all in the cloud

January 6, 2011, Vancouver, BC - BasicGov Systems, Inc., provider of software for local and state governments, announced that its California-based customer, City of Beaumont, has added a fifth BasicGov software module and is now running four distinct city functions in a single cloud based database. This most recent module is for the Permitting and Inspection department to go along with modules for Code Enforcement, Licensing and Planning. All of these applications sit on the cloud, in a single database, providing for a more complete and integrated history on each citizen and parcel.

Southern California’s City of Beaumont, with a population of 34,217 and growing, strives to keep its rural charm with planned growth for residential housing, recreational parks and facilities, commerce investments and improved transportation. These goals put pressure on City staff to manage community development and land use smartly and efficiently.

The City implemented software to reduce pressure on staff by allowing them to process citizen requests faster, and with reporting tools city staff can make better decisions to support long term community goals.

Like most municipalities, city activity and budgets vary, which is why BasicGov software is so convenient. With a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, BasicGov is flexible and can be changed as required to scale up or down the number of users and modules. And because it sits in a secure and reliable cloud environment, city staff can do their work from anywhere.

The City of Beaumont’s four departments - Planning, Code Enforcement, Public Works and GIS – are all now using BasicGov software.

“We started using BasicGov’s planning software a few years ago, then this year we added additional BasicGov modules for code enforcement, licensing, GIS integration and permits,” said a staff planner for the City of Beaumont, California. “Our City likes the affordable cost and flexibility of BasicGov software that allows us to change our number of users depending upon the level of activity within our community.”

“Many of our customers start with one BasicGov software product and then over time add more staff and more modules. And sometimes our customers want to lower the number of users for a period of time to manage within changing budgets,” said Michael Togyi, Vice President Marketing and Sales, BasicGov Systems Inc. “We find that BasicGov’s cloud computing type of software allows municipalities to work more collaboratively between departments, improve services to citizens, and stay within variable budgets.”

As a web-based software system, BasicGov has fast implementation and customers can have the software up and running in less than 5 weeks. Upgrades and daily support are included in the price.

About BasicGov

BasicGov Systems, Inc. develops, sells and supports web-based software for cities, counties, state governments and government agencies to streamline permitting and inspections, code enforcement, planning, licensing and citizen access. BasicGov is a reliable, secure solution delivered for an affordable price and the only web-based software for local governments built on the Salesforce.com Force.com platform, the backbone of cloud computing solutions used by more than 70,000 organizations worldwide. Unlike enterprise software that is expensive to acquire and difficult to implement, BasicGov requires no capital investment and is easy to set up.

3 Areas in US Federal Government IT Implementation Plan a Fit for State and Local Government Adoption: Cloud First Policy, Modular Development and Flexible IT Budgets Key

December 13, 2010, Vancouver, BC - BasicGov, a leader in web-based software for state and local government agencies, comments on the US Federal Government IT Plan (Plan) released December 9, 2010 and what this means for state and local governments (click to read Plan)

“It is encouraging to see the IT plans at the US Federal Government level include cloud first policy, modular development and flexible IT budgets,” said Michael Togyi, Vice President Marketing and Sales, BasicGov Systems. “I believe that it is important for state and local governments to replicate these and the other elements of the 25 point plan to improve the technology acquisition process.”

1. Cloud First Policy

The Shift to a“Cloud First” policy brings benefits economically, IT flexibility to scale up or down, and fast selection and implementation (page 7 of the Plan). It states, “ Cloud computing brings a wide range of benefits:

• Economical: Cloud computing is a pay-as-you-go approach to IT, in which a low initial investment is required to begin, and additional investment is needed only as system use increases.

• Flexible: IT departments that anticipate fluctuations in user demand no longer need to scramble for additional hardware and software. With cloud computing, they can add or subtract capacity quickly and easily.

• Fast: Cloud computing eliminates long procurement and certification processes, while providing a near-limitless selection of services.”

BasicGov Commentary on Cloud First Policy: Cash strapped and resource strained state and local government agencies would benefit greatly from a similar cloud first policy.

2. Modular IT and Flexible IT Budgets

In the Plan (page 19), it states that “Evidence shows that modular development leads to increased success and reduced risk. Moving forward, Federal IT programs must be structured to deploy working business functionality in release cycles no longer than 12 months, and, ideally, less than six months, with initial deployment to end users no later than 18 months after the program begins.” The Federal government plans to achieve this modular approach by working with the industry leaders and building templates and samples.

Regarding flexible IT budgets, the Plan (page 24), outlines that transparency towards goals is critical. “Program leaders and CIOs with increased budget flexibility will face higher expectations around successful delivery from agency leaders and Congress. Achieving greater flexibility in funding also requires greater transparency into spending effectiveness. Agencies will need to engage in more frequent dialogues with appropriations staff and to clearly demonstrate the performance of IT investments in achieving mission goals.”

BasicGov Commentary on Modular IT and Flexible IT budgets: Delivery of projects in six months is a very achievable goal in the cloud. BasicGov modules can be deployed in any order depending on the need and new modules are added easily as the government client has experience in the use of the system which also eliminates upfront implementation and training burden. State and local governments have yearly budget reviews and this tends to slow down the adoption of IT. With a more flexible IT budget, state and local governments could create a “cloud first” budget line that would allow the agency to move forward to adopt IT modules incrementally while showing success.

3. Myth-buster Awareness Campaign

In the Plan (page 32), the US Federal government outlines its “myth-buster” awareness campaign to eliminate artificial private sector engagement barriers. This campaign will include using online communities, video channels, Q&A forums, webinars and presentations at industry conferences.

BasicGov Commentary on Myth-Buster Campaign: State and local governments can tap into the US Federal government’s online educational information and share easily with all departments to move its agency into an innovative, flexible and more productive organization.

About BasicGov

BasicGov Systems, Inc. develops, sells and supports web-based software for cities, counties, state governments and government agencies to streamline permitting and inspections, code enforcement, planning, licensing and citizen access. BasicGov is a reliable, secure solution delivered for an affordable price and the only web-based software for local governments built on the Salesforce.com Force.com platform, the backbone of cloud computing solutions used by more than 70,000 organizations worldwide. Unlike enterprise software that is expensive to acquire and difficult to implement, BasicGov requires no capital investment and is easy to set up.

BasicGov and Carahsoft Team to Deliver Government Permitting, Code Enforcement, and Licensing Solutions in the Cloud

Partnership provides government agencies with web-based solutions to improve government productivity, response, and service to citizens

February 17, 2010, Vancouver, BC - BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG.V) has partnered with Carahsoft Technology Corp. to market and sell its BasicGov suite of software to federal, state, and local government agencies through Carahsoft's General Services Administration (GSA) schedule.

BasicGov's web-based software improves productivity and response times by automating common activities for permits and inspections, business licensing, and code enforcement. BasicGov Permits and Inspections streamlines permit requests and scheduling of inspections. BasicGov Licensing simplifies license approvals and batch renewals. BasicGov Code Enforcement automates tasks related to code violations and inspections. Online, 24/7 access to all BasicGov modules is provided by BasicGov Citizen Portal.

"We are pleased to add BasicGov to our growing portfolio of cloud computing solutions for government," said Craig P. Abod, President, Carahsoft. "Every government agency – large or small – has valued staff dedicated to managing these daily activities. Whether it is a federal permit for a new wind farm, a license for a state contractor, or a neighborhood abandoned car complaint, BasicGov makes government more efficient in responding to customer requests."

"We expect Carahsoft to quickly put BasicGov in front of larger government agencies that we're not able to reach on our own," said David Roberts, President and CEO, BasicGov Systems. "Our Software as a Service model is ideal for government as it delivers functionality and reliability without the high costs or lengthy implementation of traditional software."

 

About BasicGov
BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG) develops, sells and supports web-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), for local governments throughout North America. BasicGov software suite includes: Permits & Inspections; Code Enforcement; Licensing; Planning; and Citizen Portal. The software allows cities and local governments to improve productivity and provide better services to citizens by streamlining and automating processes in its community development to achieve smart growth and sustainability goals. To help small or large government agencies lower IT costs BasicGov has an aggressive SaaS subscription pricing model. BasicGov has partnered with Salesforce.com and its Force.com cloud computing platform used by more than 55,000 organizations worldwide to deliver industry leading performance, security and scalability to government customers. www.basicgov.com

About Carahsoft
Carahsoft Technology Corp. is the trusted Government IT solutions provider, combining technological expertise with a thorough understanding of the government procurement process to help federal, state and local government agencies select and implement the best solution at the best possible value. As a top ranked GSA Schedule Contract holder, Carahsoft is the largest government partner and serves as the master government aggregator for many of its best-of-breed vendors. The company’s dedicated Solutions Divisions support proactive sales, marketing and delivery of Symantec, Storage Solutions, VMware, Adobe, Open Source, HR, HP Software, Intelligence, and SAP. Carahsoft is consistently recognized by its partners as a top revenue producer and is listed among the industry’s fastest growing firms by VAR Business, CRN, Inc., Washington Technology, and the Washington Business Journal. In 2009, Carahsoft was ranked among the top ten companies by total revenue on the Inc.500 list of privately held companies, and received the VAR Business Top Revenue Generator Award. www.carahsoft.com

Media contact: Susan Kirk
susan.kirk@basicgov.com, 1.604.315.9959

Sales contact: Roula Fredrikson
roula.fredrikson@basicgov.com, 1.866.999.1846 ext. 1

Carahsoft Media contact: Mary Lange
mary.lange@carahsoft.com, 1.703.431.8485

White Paper and Blog Series: HB Lanarc White Paper Sponsored by BasicGov - How Local Governments are Benefitting from Sustainability and other Trends

White paper and blog series explores six major trends in municipal management including sustainable practices and key leadership opportunities in community development management

February 10, 2010, Vancouver, BC - BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG.V) has published a sponsored white paper for local governments produced by HB Lanarc, leaders in sustainable communities. The "Ahead of the Curve" white paper and related blog series explores municipal leadership challenges and opportunities, including a move to adopt sustainable practices while improving community development review and approvals. Case study overviews from communities in British Columbia, Canada and New Mexico, US are referenced.

White Paper download:"Ahead of the Curve – How Leading Local Governments are Benefitting from Sustainability and Other Trends".

Blog participation: In collaboration with the White Paper, BasicGov is hosting a blog series with author and sustainability planning expert, Peter Whitelaw, to invite discussions about "Ahead of the Curve" trends and leadership opportunities, at www.basicgov.com/blog.

 

About BasicGov
BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG) develops, sells and supports web-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), for local governments throughout North America. BasicGov software suite includes: Permits & Inspections; Code Enforcement; Licensing; Planning; and Citizen Portal. The software allows cities and local governments to improve productivity and provide better services to citizens by streamlining and automating processes in its community development to achieve smart growth and sustainability goals. To help small or large government agencies lower IT costs BasicGov has an aggressive SaaS subscription pricing model. BasicGov has partnered with Salesforce.com and its Force.com cloud computing platform used by more than 55,000 organizations worldwide to deliver industry leading performance, security and scalability to government customers. www.basicgov.com

About HB Lanarc
HB Lanarc Consultants Ltd. are planning and design consultants based in Vancouver British Columbia.  The firm is a North American leader in sustainable communities, with a strong track record on projects from community-wide plans to climate change planning, sustainable landscape design, and knowledge tools for sustainable development. www.hblanarc.ca

Media contact: Susan Kirk
susan.kirk@basicgov.com, 1.604.315.9959

Sales contact: Roula Fredrikson
roula.fredrikson@basicgov.com, 1.866.999.1846 ext. 1

BasicGov Licensing Software Maximizes Local Government Revenues

Web-based software cuts government costs and improves service to citizens

January 12, 2010, Vancouver, BC - BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG.V) (formerly CloudBench Applications, Inc.) has launched BasicGov Licensing software to help local governments collect licensing revenues quickly, improve budgeting and manage cash flow. BasicGov Licensing lets local governments maximize revenue by automating licensing tasks related to businesses, contractors, animals and many other license types.

BasicGov Licensing adds to the BasicGov suite of web-based software solutions (City Planning, Permits & Inspections, Code Enforcement) and is hosted on SalesForce.com's cloud computing platform, Force.com. Online, anywhere, 24/7 citizen access is available through the BasicGov Citizen Portal, which integrates with all BasicGov modules and allows business owners and individuals to manage multiple license applications from home or office.

BasicGov Licensing streamlines license applications, registrations, payments, approvals, and renewals, with minimal effort by staff. New applications can be processed quickly and the time to process renewals is drastically reduced with BasicGov's high speed letter processor. All license information is stored online so approvals can be automated and consume less paper. Supervisors and public officials have access to centralized reporting to track operational results and staff productivity.

"Governments of all sizes are switching to web-based software to improve revenue generation and productivity while trimming IT budgets," said Michael Togyi, Vice President, Marketing and Sales. "With BasicGov Licensing, we now offer our clients a complete turnkey package that includes code enforcement, permits and inspections, and planning combined with on-line citizen access. Web-based solutions and the monthly subscription model are ideal for cost-conscious governments and BasicGov is the proven alternative to expensive enterprise systems."

BasicGov customer Nate Greenberg with Mono County said, "We're excited about the addition of BasicGov Licensing as it will integrate with all of our other data from planning, code enforcement, permits, and inspections on one common platform which will help our team to make better business decisions."

For more information about BasicGov Licensing go to www.basicgov.com/products/licensing

About BasicGov
BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG) develops, sells and supports web-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), for local governments throughout North America. BasicGov software suite includes: Permits & Inspections; Code Enforcement; Licensing; Planning; and Citizen Portal. The software allows cities and local governments to improve productivity and provide better services to citizens by streamlining and automating processes in its community development to achieve smart growth and sustainability goals. To help small or large government agencies lower IT costs BasicGov has an aggressive SaaS subscription pricing model. BasicGov has partnered with Salesforce.com and its Force.com cloud computing platform used by more than 55,000 organizations worldwide to deliver industry leading performance, security and scalability to government customers. www.basicgov.com

Media contact: Susan Kirk
susan.kirk@basicgov.com, 1.604.315.9959

Sales contact: Roula Fredrikson
roula.fredrikson@basicgov.com, 1.866.999.1846 ext. 1

CloudBench Applications Inc., changes name to BasicGov Systems, Inc.

New name reflects success of BasicGov product line

January 4, 2010, Vancouver, BC - CloudBench Applications, Inc. announced today that the company name has changed to BasicGov Systems, Inc. This name change was effective as of Thursday December 24^th on the TSX Venture Exchange. The new symbol for the company is BSG.V. BasicGov has four web-based software modules for local governments that improve productivity in the areas of Planning, Permits and Inspections, Code Enforcement, and online Citizen Portal.

The Planning module manages all tasks connected with a city's planning process. The Permits and Inspections module simplifies and automates everyday tasks related to citizens and business owners permit requests and resulting inspections. The Code Enforcement module streamlines the process for managing citizen complaints and code violations.

Citizen Portal provides for online community development to expand citizen access and streamline permits and inspections, code enforcement and planning. With Citizen Portal property owners, building contractors and developers can apply for permits online, schedule inspections or check the status of applications 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

About BasicGov
BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG) develops, sells and supports web-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), for local governments throughout North America. BasicGov software suite includes: Permits & Inspections; Code Enforcement; Licensing; Planning; and Citizen Portal. The software allows cities and local governments to improve productivity and provide better services to citizens by streamlining and automating processes in its community development to achieve smart growth and sustainability goals. To help small or large government agencies lower IT costs BasicGov has an aggressive SaaS subscription pricing model. BasicGov has partnered with Salesforce.com and its Force.com cloud computing platform used by more than 55,000 organizations worldwide to deliver industry leading performance, security and scalability to government customers.
www.basicgov.com

Media contact: Susan Kirk
susan.kirk@basicgov.com, 1.604.315.9959

Sales contact: Roula Fredrikson
roula.fredrikson@basicgov.com, 1.866.999.1846 ext. 1

CloudBench Sets New Benchmark for Municipal Services in the Cloud

Salesforce.com customer success story: BasicGov web-based software solutions for local government profiled as Force.com innovator

November 19, 2009, Vancouver, BC - CloudBench Applications, Inc. (TSX-V: CBH), provider of BasicGov web-based software, profiles its journey from enterprise software to Software as a Service (SaaS) and Force.com innovator with customer success story published on Salesforce.com.

CloudBench Sets New Benchmark for Municipal Services in the Cloud

CloudBench, originally known as Municipal Solutions Group, was founded more than 25 years ago by local government employees who wanted to use new technologies to make it easier for small governments to provide community services. Quick to see the benefits of cloud computing, company managers refocused their efforts on building cloud-based solutions with Force.com to give customers greater efficiency, flexibility, and cost savings.

"Benching" on premise software
Municipal governments are often slow to adopt new technologies. In fact, many budget-constrained small governments have no IT departments and still use paper-based systems to run basic services like permitting. According to David Roberts, CloudBench CEO, "A medium size city with 30,000-40,000 residents might need to spend between 100,000 and 200,000 dollars for a capital license solution, plus an additional 20% annually for maintenance. There's also a cost for customization and professional services to get it up and running in the first place. This keeps on-premise solutions out of reach."
For these customers, subscription-based products are more attainable - they are predictable and typically don't require large up-front costs. Without IT staff, data security can also be a thorny issue for some small municipalities. Everyone knows security is important, but there may not be anyone on staff with the expertise to manage it. Implementation can be tricky too. Roberts explains, "The implementation times for enterprise software can take between 6 and 24 months. That's a long time and a lot of detail work for these customers."
After seeing the benefits of cloud computing, Roberts and team refocused their entire company around the cloud. Roberts says, "Many small municipalities have been left behind by advances in technology and are still managing services with pen and paper. With cloud computing we saw a way to give them something that is cost-effective, easy to implement, and easy and inexpensive to maintain. There's a compelling case for leap-frogging on premise solutions and going straight from paper to the cloud."

Trading .NET for Force.com
Municipal Solutions's on-premise products were built on .NET, and when the company moved to the cloud it stayed with the status quo. Three developers worked for six months to build the first BasicGov module using .NET. According to James Wikkerink, CloudBench developer, "It looked great on paper. But we did some prototyping and testing – and it simply wasn't releasable." It was at that point that the company first encountered salesforce.com and the Force.com platform. The difference was dramatic.
"With Force.com our team was able to have a prototype up and running after just a weekend," says Wikkerink. "It was pretty exciting. The hosting was taken care of. We didn't have to program in a GUI as much. We didn't need specialized staff that understood each separate piece of the dev effort. And, most importantly, it worked."
Roberts adds, "We could see right away that Force.com is a more elegant way to bring up an application if you already have the domain knowledge that we did. Having the whole platform and framework already available was a big advantage especially as we were just starting up. Also from a business standpoint we would be able to get it done quickly. There were a lot of built-in features that would be much more complicated to assemble if we did it piecemeal."

Rapid development and implementation times
Over the next two months, three developers worked with Visualforce and Apex to convert the prototype into a fully releasable Permits & Inspections solution. The entire effort was completed in two thirds less time than the team had spent on the .NET-based product which was never finished. Just one month after the Permits & Inspections module was code complete, the first customer was up and running.
According to Wikkerink, "We didn't have to build a reports tool because that came with Force.com. We used S-control functionality for our own configurable rules engine. Now we only have to configure what each unique customer would want. We were able to quickly focus on what our customers were asking for instead of worrying about the technical issues. We spent our time providing value for customers, instead of fighting with the technology."
CloudBench has subsequently launched two more BasicGov modules – Code Enforcement and Planning. Release cycles have grown shorter and shorter—the last module took two developers just one month to complete. Wikkerink adds, "I'm excited now about our next release as it will leverage more Apex to add intuitive functionality without compromising ease-of-use."
Force.com also simplifies implementation. According to Roberts, "We can focus on the essential elements. We don't customize for customers – we configure. As a result we can do a much faster implementation. What can take up to 24 months in an on-premise world takes us less than two."

Although there are several competing companies, Roberts feels that his company is well positioned for success. "We're the only Force.com-based offering in this space," he explains. "Our competitors can't boast the world class security that we can. Saying that our product is hosted by salesforce.com gives our customers peace of mind that the competition just can't match."

For full story go to http://www.basicgov.com/blog/2009/11/18/recognition-basicgov-salesforce-dreamforce-municipal-services

About BasicGov
BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG) develops, sells and supports web-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), for local governments throughout North America. BasicGov software suite includes: Permits & Inspections; Code Enforcement; Licensing; Planning; and Citizen Portal. The software allows cities and local governments to improve productivity and provide better services to citizens by streamlining and automating processes in its community development to achieve smart growth and sustainability goals. To help small or large government agencies lower IT costs BasicGov has an aggressive SaaS subscription pricing model. BasicGov has partnered with Salesforce.com and its Force.com cloud computing platform used by more than 55,000 organizations worldwide to deliver industry leading performance, security and scalability to government customers.
www.basicgov.com

Media contact: Susan Kirk
susan.kirk@basicgov.com, 1.604.315.9959

Sales contact: Roula Fredrikson
roula.fredrikson@basicgov.com, 1.866.999.1846 ext. 1

BasicGov Launches Citizen Portal to Expand Citizen Access to Local Government Services

Citizen Portal improves transparency, increases productivity, cuts costs

November 10, 2009, Vancouver, BC - CloudBench Applications, Inc. (TSX-V: CBH), provider of BasicGov web-based software, has launched its Citizen Portal for community development to expand citizen access and streamline permits and inspections, code enforcement and planning. With Citizen Portal, property owners, building contractors and developers can apply online, schedule inspections or check the status of applications 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Citizen Portal adds to the BasicGov suite of web-based solutions (Permits & Inspections, Code Enforcement, and Planning) that provide an integrated solution for community development.

Citizen Portal provides fast, transparent communication between citizens and their local community development department. Citizen Portal is a web-based solution that increases staff productivity since citizens can enter data and check the status of applications through their city's Citizen Portal website. Citizen Portal uses secure, cloud computing servers so government staff and citizens can access information from anywhere at any time.

BasicGov's Citizen Portal brings simplicity and efficiency to community development processes. For example, in the case of building permits:

• Contractors can go to city's Citizen Portal website to apply for permits, saving time and money for government, contractors, and citizens.
• Contractors can schedule building inspections through Citizen Portal.
• Contractors receive email notifications when permits have been approved and can print certificates by logging into Citizen Portal.

"Citizen Portal was built in partnership with BasicGov customers and it's a win-win solution for cities and their citizens. Citizens get instant feedback on their requests and city productivity is improved, saving local government money," said Michael Togyi, Vice President Marketing and Sales. "In addition, because BasicGov is delivered in a Software as a Service (SaaS) or cloud computing model, we can deploy faster and save even more money for local government."

In summary, Citizen Portal is for:

• Citizens to apply for permit or planning applications online.
• Citizens to file neighborhood complaints (code enforcement).
• City staff or citizens to check application status.
• City staff or citizens to publish documents.
• City Staff to notify citizens when to access and review their information online.

For Citizen Portal pricing, contact sales@basicgov.com.

About BasicGov
BasicGov Systems, Inc. (TSX Venture: BSG) develops, sells and supports web-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), for local governments throughout North America. BasicGov software suite includes: Permits & Inspections; Code Enforcement; Licensing; Planning; and Citizen Portal. The software allows cities and local governments to improve productivity and provide better services to citizens by streamlining and automating processes in its community development to achieve smart growth and sustainability goals. To help small or large government agencies lower IT costs BasicGov has an aggressive SaaS subscription pricing model. BasicGov has partnered with Salesforce.com and its Force.com cloud computing platform used by more than 55,000 organizations worldwide to deliver industry leading performance, security and scalability to government customers.
www.basicgov.com

Media contact: Susan Kirk
susan.kirk@basicgov.com, 1.604.315.9959

Sales contact: Roula Fredrikson
roula.fredrikson@basicgov.com, 1.866.999.1846 ext. 1