Contact Information:
Angela R. Liotta
Acting Public Information Officer
Director of Media Relations
518-402-3899
angela.liotta@cio.ny.gov
Andrew M. Cuomo - Governor

Daniel C. Chan, Ph.D - Acting NYS Chief Information Officer
Acting Director of Office For Technology

NYS Online Permit Assistance and Licensing System Reaches 1,000,000 Online Transactions

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Albany, NY (May 2, 2011)

In April, the New York State Online Permit Assistance and Licensing program (OPAL), operated and managed by the New York State Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology under its Business Permit Assistance program, processed its onemillionth online transaction. Developed in 2001 and hailed as one of the State’s first e-commerce applications, OPAL is an interactive website that guides individuals and businesses through the permit and licensing requirements to start or expand a business in New York.


“I am thrilled that we have processed our one-millionth transaction through our Online Permit Assistance and Licensing program. This system enables us to be more efficient and effective in delivering services to New York’s citizens and businesses," said Daniel Chan, New York State
Acting Chief Information Officer and Acting Director of the Office For Technology. “By offering step-by-step guidance, the Web-based system eases the frustrations of citizens and businesses who apply for the permits and licenses they need to operate a business in New York State.”


Using OPAL, prospective business owners can:

  • Research permitting/licensing requirements for over 400 different business activities, including information on business structures, tax information and employer requirements;
  • Review comprehensive profiles on over 1,200 New York business permits, licenses, and registrations;
  • Apply online for 50 different State business requirements, including Certificates of Incorporation, Employer Registration for Unemployment Insurance, and Certificates of Authority to Collect Sales Tax at one time, with a single credit card payment;
  • Create information packets tailored to specific business activities, covering more than 1200 different permits, certificates and licenses; and
  • Apply for a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).

In addition the program offers significant benefits and cost savings to permit applicants including, reducing the time required to submit applications and the processing cycle; 24x7 availability; OPAL allows permit applicants to ‘attest’ to documents, thereby removing the need for signatures and mailing documents; and permit applicants can check on the status of their applications through the entire process.


During the past five years, online license and permit applications processed via OPAL have doubled and corresponding revenues collected for these applications have grown from $1.1 million to almost $3.6 million annually.


Additional information about NYS CIO/OFT Business Permits Assistance Program can be found at http://www.cio.ny.gov/business_permit_assistance.


For more information on New York State’s Online Permit Assistance and Licensing application or a copy of the “Starting a Business” brochure, visit
http://www.NYS-OPAL.com.


About OFT


The Office for Technology (OFT) provide statewide IT strategic direction, IT policy and centralized IT services to the state and its governmental entities. CIO/OFT provides IT enterprise services to support the missions of state agencies by operating four mainframe data centers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including more than 90,000 telecom users, 50 statewide mission-critical applications, a secure network of over 1,600 miles of fiber, including IT operations, telecommunications, Internet and Intranet services, enterprise email systems and support, IT training, networking, data storage and processing. In addition, the agency has a world renowned project management practice, operates a first class technology academy for NY government entities and e-learning program for groups, operates a 24/7 customer care center, develops and supports web applications and assists with application development. For more information, visit http://www.cio.ny.gov. Follow us on Twitter @nystatecio.