Improving Development Application Outcomes with DAISY

Sydney, NSW NSW councils are under increasing pressure to process Development Applications (DAs) faster, while managing rising application volumes and constrained resources. As an early adopter, Blacktown City Council has partnered with Enterprise AI to implement DAISY, an AIpowered solution designed to improve applicant experience and streamline council assessment processes.

Challenge 

Many councils across New South Wales face increasing pressure to reduce Development Application assessment timeframes, while managing growing application volumes with limited resources. Applicants often find the Development Application process complex and unclear. Uncertainty around planning requirements, submission pathways, and documentation expectations lead to incomplete or low-quality applications, high volumes of applicant enquiries, and frequent Requests for Information (RFIs). Council staff are required to respond to all enquiries by law, which increases administrative workload and diverts time away from assessment and decision-making activities.

Solution 

DAISY was implemented to support both applicants and council staff across the entire Development Application lifecycle. 

DAISY Assist was introduced to guide applicants before lodgement by providing clear, sitespecific planning guidance aligned to council planning controls and legislation. Applicants were supported to identify the correct application pathway, understand required documentation, and submit more complete, higher-quality applications with built in document screening and validation software.

DAISY Assess was introduced to support council teams by automating routine, high-volume tasks prior to assessment. This included early screening of applications for completeness, intelligent suggestions and generating draft assessment text. Together, DAISY Assist and DAISY Assess improved application quality at the source and reduced downstream rework for council teams.

Client input (Blacktown Council): 

"Looking back, it's incredible that we took the most complex part of our business and used artificial intelligence to improve productivity and customer experience. DAISY has shown us just how much potential AI brings to making our customers' lives simpler, easier, and more convenient. And we can already see how AI will continue to benefit our business and lift customer effort, satisfaction, and loyalty to new levels." - Executive Manager, Customer Experience

Technology 

DAISY was built by Enterprise AI and powered by Microsoft, using secure, enterprise-grade Microsoft technologies designed to meet public sector requirements.

Key Microsoft technologies used include: 

• Microsoft Azure AI Foundry to support the AI assistant and decision logic 
• Microsoft Content Understanding to analyse, classify, and validate Development Application documents 
• Azure API Management (APIM) to securely manage integrations with council systems and services 

The solution was customised to each councils planning controls, legislative framework, and property data to ensure guidance and automation aligned with local policies and statutory obligations.

"We built DAISY in close partnership with councils to solve real congestion points in the development application process. What we're seeing now is exactly what we set out to achieve: clearer guidance for applicants, stronger documentation at lodgement, and meaningful time returned to assessment teams." - James Masella, Director of Growth & Partnerships, Enterprise AI

Outcomes and Results 

Following implementation, councils using DAISY have reported measurable improvements across both applicant experience and council operations.

Key outcomes include: 

• Higher-quality Development Applications at lodgement 
• Reduced Requests for Information and rework 
• Lower volumes of repetitive applicant enquiries 
• More predictable assessment workloads 
• Faster Development Application assessment timeframes

Across participating NSW councils, results have included: 

• Between 40-100 applicant enquiries deflected per week 
• 49% increase in capacity from servicing applicant queries outside of business hours 
• 20% reduction in assessment timeframes over the first 6 months

About Enterprise AI

Enterprise AI is an Australian technology company specialising in secure, enterprise-grade artificial intelligence solutions for government and regulated industries. Working in close partnership with councils and public sector organisations, Enterprise AI designs and delivers AI products that improve service delivery, operational efficiency, and customer experience.

Media Enquiries: 

Alvin Paronda 

alvin@ubemarketing.com 

https://enterpriseaigroup.com