Inspiration
We were inspired by our personal experiences with applying for various governmental programs and forms. Often, upon submitting a form, we would be told weeks after that there was a tiny problem in our file and a resubmit is needed. This is a waste of time and money for both sides, and is the issue that we are trying to solve.
What it does
Permit Checker helps streamline permit applications by telling users whether a permit is required and guiding users through each step of the application process. A quick questionnaire is given to decide whether a permit is needed to save time for users. Upon filling out the online forms and uploading the required PDF files, it highlights where potential mistakes are, and guides the user to the resources for them to verify and correct these potential mistakes. At the end, a PDF summary of what was filled out can be downloaded and shared.
How we built it
We began by brainstorming on whiteboard according to our discussion with Digital Kitchener. Then, we split the project across our team members, each handling a part such as UI, Computer Vision and Backend. This way, we could effectively brainstorm the details of each part and ensure they were independent. This also allowed us to utilize multi-agent workflows to efficiently implement our ideas. Additionally, we tested many iterations with different computer vision models to see which one best checked filled form fields.
Challenges we ran into
We had many choices for the model used to read the submitted PDF documents. We tried using a JEV model, which could not read images well, as well as a traditional OCR model (Paddle OCR), which was too slow and inconsistent to be feasible.
What we learned
From this project, we learned that it is important to plan out the scope of the project through collaboration with our customers. This allowed us to have a better grasp of what the core of the project should do.
What's next for Permit Checker
Permit Checker can be incorporated with the rest of the Kitchener system to facilitate a secure log in system, and saving in between sessions. Furthermore, this could allow direct submissions to the City of Kitchener upon an application being checked.
