IDOX has already delivered the first two phases of a four-stage, £12m project to modernise Scotland's planning system. The IDOX suite has the facility to handle all types of documentation including multimedia, electronic documents and email, or scanned images from paper.  These files are all stored in, and easily retrievable from, core electronic document & records management. Other modules include: performance management, web publishing, workflow, online forms and knowledge management.

In mid May IDOX reported it had  *16 planning systems overhauled boosting efficiency and cutting costs with *Residents benefit from faster access to information online and had  successfully delivered   the second stream of a five-phase project, the Scottish Government's Online Planning Information System (OPIS),

Following delivery of the first stream in 2007, IDOX won and successfully delivered the contract in early 2008, bringing a total number of IDOX Scottish council solutions up to 28 out of the possible 32. The programme, which went live in May across 16 planning authorities in Scotland, will transform their planning systems by transferring all paper-based planning documents online.

Scottish residents and businesses can now access planning information quickly and easily through the Internet, and contact local authorities online, avoiding the need to phone or queue.

By moving to an electronic system, councils now experience significantly reduced storage and retrieval costs, improving services for their residents and using tax-payers' money more effectively.

John Swinney (right) MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth at the Scottish Government said: "The launch of ePlanning, one of the actions detailed in our economic recovery programme, will benefit planning authorities, communities, applicants and the business community.

"It will produce significant cost savings for councils and applicants, including the development industry, at a time when Scotland is feeling the effects of the global downturn.

Producing a system that is easier to use and process, is a significant step in our drive towards ensuring Scotland's planning system acts as an aid rather than a barrier to increasing sustainable economic growth."

Andrew Riley, sales director IDOX group added: "We are pleased that these 16 Scottish authorities are now realising the benefits of the IDOX electronic planning system."

Planning systems are central to the Scottish Government's ability to manage the development of its towns, cities and rural areas and in 2001, the Scottish ePlanning Group was established to coordinate the use of new technology for better planning service delivery.

One of the group's key objectives was to improve the services and drive efficiency savings across all planning processes nationally and following this, OPIS was launched to allow citizens, agents and consultees to view and track planning applications and architects' drawings online.

There are 16 planning authorities participating in the Scottish Government's OPIS scheme including 15 councils and one national park; Midlothian, Falkirk, Inverclyde, Fife, Orkney, North, East and South Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, East Dunbartonshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Highland, Moray, Clackmannanshire and Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.