When the Saskatchewan Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists needed a system to enforce the new Lobbyists Act, Engineered Code was awarded the contract to build them a solution using Dynamics 365 and Adxstudio Portals.
The Saskatchewan Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists (SRL) is responsible for administration of The Lobbyists Act, which requires anyone lobbying public office holders in the Government of Saskatchewan to register and report their activities for entry into a public searchable database.
The registration process involves a complex, fifteen step form, requiring information such as which individuals are lobbying, what they are lobbying about, and who they are lobbying. Since lobbyists are required to keep their registration up-to-date, a versioning system is needed so the public could see and compare changes overtime. Email notifications are necessary to ensure that lobbyists are kept informed about upcoming deadlines associated with their registration. As all registrations are reviewed before being approved, the SRL staff requires an interface that allows them to see the submitted information, and to follow a workflow where registrations are either approved, sent back for more information, or rejected. Finally, a public website is needed where anyone can search through any of the approved registrations.
Engineered Code accomplished all of these goals through a combination of Dynamics 365 and Adxstudio Portals. The portal provided an authenticated experience for lobbyists where they could complete the entire registration experience, including the complex registration form. The portal also acted as SRL’s main website, and provided the public with a sophisticated search interface where they can view what lobbying was going on in the province. The SRL managed their side of the registration experience via the Dynamic 365 interface, and workflows were leveraged to implement the email notifications. A registration versioning system was developed using plugins and custom entities.
The completed system was launched in August 2016, and has been well received by both lobbyists and the public alike. The system has processed over 240 registration submissions as of the end of 2017.
