State auditors this week said they have “significant concerns” about the Department of Natural Resources’ plan to rollout a new app-based system that will allow hunters, fishers, boaters and users of off-road vehicles to purchase licenses on their smartphones.
“I think there’s issues all over the place,” said Joe Sass, IT audit director for the Office of the Legislative Auditor, which released a special examination of the system Wednesday.
The electronic licensing system, or ELS, was originally planned to launch in March of last year, but it has experienced significant problems and delays throughout the development process.
According to the audit, part of the problem is the sheer amount of data that must be handled by the new system.
“If we just look at hunting and fishing licenses, we have about 2.7 million transactions every year. That’s a huge amount of data,” said Kelly Straka, fish and wildlife division director for the Minnesota DNR.
The DNR has not announced a new date for the launch of the system, but are planning to begin a “phased launch” sometime this spring, after the state fishing opener on May 9.
The first phase will include hunting and fishing licenses and the next phase will incorporate boating and off-road vehicle licenses.
“You don’t want to roll it out right before a big opener, right? That’s a huge load on a new system,” said Straka.
The auditors warn that if the issues are not addressed before the launch, many individuals could run into issues when applying for permits. He notes that veterans, those with disabilities, applicants under the age of 16, and non-Minnesotans are especially likely to experience problems with the system.
“These slightly atypical but certainly very common scenarios are potentially more problematic,” said Sass.
The OLA audit indicates that PayIt, the technology company the DNR hired to help develop and implement the app, is partly to blame for the slow launch of the new licensing system.
“The vendor has certainly missed deadlines and is providing a platform that is not ready for go live,” said Sass. “At the same time, it’s the agency’s responsibility to make sure that they’re holding their vendor accountable, enforcing the provisions in the contract, and really getting the system that functions and that Minnesotans deserve.”
The DNR has responded to the OLA’s concerns, saying in a memo that employees and the vendor are working to address the issues flagged in the audit, but the DNR is still moving forward with the plan for the phased launch.
The Minnesota DNR’s Kelly Straka says the app will be ready for hunters and fishers to buy licenses in the near future.
“I feel confident that we will be launching this system shortly after the fishing opener,” said Straka. “I’m confident that we're going to check those boxes certainly before we officially set a date for launch.”
