State of Rhode Island Saves Development Time and Costs with MySQL and Open Source

When Jim Willis suggested that the Rhode Island Department of State develop its long-awaited rules and regulations database with MySQL and other open source software, he encountered more than a little skepticism. However, after delivering a fast, effective solution that came in well under budget and ahead of schedule, resistance quickly turned to strong support, and the open source approach is now being used in other strategic initiatives there.

The Rhode Island Department of State waited more than five years to receive the legislature's approval to require state agencies to file all rules and regulations electronically. After this long delay, the office wanted to do it right. Willis, a consultant for Rhode Island's Secretary of State, took on the project on the condition of using open source tools. Using the open source LAMP model (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Perl/Python) Willis completed the entire portal in four months working only two days a week and for $40,000 -- $6,000 of which was hardware costs.

"There was a lot of resistance to using open source software in government," said Willis. "But I saw this as the perfect opportunity because of speed and cost factors and the ability to change some people's minds about open source software."

MySQL Bundled on Dell PowerEdge Server

The MySQL database is the backbone of Rhode Island's rules and regulations Web site. Willis designed the portal using Apache Web server software running under Red Hat Linux Version 7.2, and the software runs on a Dell PowerEdge server that came with a MySQL database pre-installed.

"We have been consistently impressed with MySQL's stability and performance. It takes only four seconds to complete a full text search of all 1,800 regulations - some of which are hundreds of pages long. The filing server has had 100% uptime since it was launched."

More than 90 Rhode Island state agencies submit their regulations through a form written in PHP. Once the form is filled out, the user is prompted to attach the regulation or rule in PDF and submit it to the Secretary of State's office. The text is parsed out and dumped into a MySQL column so people can conduct full text searches by term.

Rhode Island's rules and regulations site is regularly used by businesses, lawyers and advocacy groups. Since it went live, its MySQL server has received 24,000 visits with 150,000 pages and over 4 gigabytes of regulations transferred (note: uploaded/downloaded).

Open Source Solutions Shared Between States

"This is the first large scale roll out of a open source development project in Rhode Island, and it's become very popular with other states as well," continued Willis. "We hope that, in true open source fashion, our application can be shared and serve as a template for other states that would like to move toward electronic rules and regulations filing and other communications."

Due to the enormous success of its rules and regulations database, the state of Rhode Island is in the process of developing several other high profile MySQL-based e-government applications, which will be introduced early next year.

The Rhode Island rules and regulations site can be viewed at http://www.rules.state.ri.us/rules/.