EKI Develops City of Chicago Database For Information on Building Court Actions

CHICAGO (September 24, 2003) – Chicago-based Electronic Knowledge Interchange (EKI) announced on Tuesday that it has fully developed a database for the City of Chicago that will give the public better access to information about large assembly and public place violations. The database was created in response to the incident earlier this year at the E2 night club in Chicago.

The building-related court actions application was commissioned by the City of Chicago to make court action data available to the numerous enforcement divisions. The database currently contains data from the Department of Buildings, the Department of Administrative Hearings and the Mayor's License Commission.

Additional data sources are scheduled to become available soon on this database including the Circuit Court of Cook County, Fire Department, Building Department and the Department of Revenue. The focus of the application is non-residential buildings such as clubs, restaurants and other locations where large numbers of people gather.

The public now has access to violation data through the main page of the city's Web portal at http://www.cityofchicago.org. Site visitors will be able to search the database for violations against addresses and register to receive e-mail alerts for violations at buildings in their ward or police district.

"This will be an easy way for anyone to access information about violations and safety before they leave their home," said EKI CEO Robert Blackwell Jr. "The database brings important data from different departments together into one location."

EKI has been working with the City of Chicago to build out its e-government infrastructure and has been designing and implementing the City of Chicago Web portal and the city's online bill payment systems. Chicago residents are able to buy their vehicle stickers and pay their water bills online using systems developed and supported by EKI.

Using managerial know-how and technological expertise, EKI helps businesses and organizations of all types and sizes use technology solutions to improve existing products and services and add new ones, which allows firms to maintain competitive superiority while providing first-rate service.

EKI has provided a wide range of successful solutions for a growing list of satisfied clients including the City of Chicago, the States of Illinois and Ohio, Motorola, Bank One, Kraft Foods, Sears, Abbott Laboratories and Morton's of Chicago.

About Electronic Knowledge Interchange
Founded in 1997 by Robert Blackwell Jr., EKI, a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by the City of Chicago, had about $10 million in revenues in 2002. EKI has more than 70 employees. Blackwell Jr. and his partner, Diego Ferrer, have more than 35 years of technology and consulting expertise.

Contact:
Dan Shomon
danflak@aol.com
312-578-0450

http://www.eprairie.com