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Cannabis Systems Integration (CSI) Project Background:
The Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) seeks to consolidate two instances of their current cannabis licensing software into one solution. The Cannabis Licensing Enforcement Application and Reporting (CLEaR) system and the Cultivation Licensing System (CLS) are housed in two different instances of the Accela solution. These two systems are not integrated to communicate and share needed data which could benefit the DCC, and external stakeholders. Having the CLEaR and CLS solutions maintained on two separate systems has presented maintenance and operational challenges.

Market Research Questionnaire (MRQ) Purpose:
The DCC is in the planning stages of the reportable CSI project. This MRQ seeks to obtain current market conditions and to collect information from the vendor community related to the availability of goods and services that can meet the needs of project. Collective information provided by the vendor community may be used to develop alternatives for consideration and may be used to estimate costs related to system acquisition for a proposed solution. Please provide your best advice based on your experience with other organizations and initiatives of this kind.
The State is not responsible for any expenses associated with responding to this MRQ. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this MRQ. The intent is solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. A response to this MRQ is not an offer and cannot be accepted by DCC to form a binding contract. The right to compete in future procurements is not affected in the event that the vendor chooses not to submit a response.

Program Background:
The Department receives approximately 1,482 applications for licensure annually, has a licensing population of 9,050 and receives 9,112 consumer complaints each year. Approximate number of internal users is 410. Approximate number of external users is, CLS system 23,773 and the CLEaR system is 38,577.

Licensing Division
The Department’s Licensing Division conducts review of applications for state licensure of cannabis activities, such as distribution, manufacturing, retail, cultivation, testing laboratories and temporary events. The Division also conducts subsequent reviews for license renewals, license modifications and provides technical assistance support to applicants and licensees.

Compliance Division
The Department’s Compliance Division responds to complaints from various sources including, but not limited to, consumers, local level regulators, and other state departments, conducts routine inspections and conducts investigations regarding alleged and observed violations. The Division Oversees businesses licensed for distribution, manufacturing, retail, and cultivation. The Division supports and enforces regulatory compliance of licensed cannabis businesses, partners with other state departments on cannabis mandates, and unlicensed operations to promote accountability, consumers and public safety.

Laboratory Services Division
The Department’s Laboratory Services Division conducts a scientific review of all applications for licensure of testing laboratories. The Laboratory Services Division also conducts compliance inspections and investigations of testing laboratories.
Project Goals:
These Programs are pursuing initiatives to improve the level of service they provide to the public, while streamlining current business process. This includes but is not limited to the following business opportunities:

1. A centralized and integrated system for all cannabis services to streamline current business processes.
2. An online application portal where current and potential licensees can submit applications to the DCC, pay associated fees, track status, receive system generated communications regarding application deficiencies and submit remediation of those deficiencies, and license search.
3. An online consumer complaint submission portal and improved internal tracking.
4. Improved electronic document management to facilitate a more streamlined workflow and access to the document repository.
5. Perform inspections of facilities or establishments with the use of a tablet or mobile device.
6. Configurable system automations, business rules and validations.
7. Improved cashiering and accounting capabilities.

Current Systems:
The Accela platform provides customizable and configurable items for data collection and in support of auxiliary business functionality mandated by the DCC. The Accela platform provides a customizable workflow engine allowing for automation within the systems to assist with driving business processes. The Accela platform is a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) with 99.99% uptime and redundancy hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud environment with a FedRamp Tier 3 rating. Accela has native third-party integration points that include, but are not limited to:

FISRV Snap Pay payment processor to assist in the collection of fee payments made to the Department. Minimal payment information is being collected in the Accela system to process the payment transactions.
The DCC Data Warehouse initiative to extract data from the licensing systems would be an automated process requiring minimal intervention from DCC staff.

Public facing system integration for data sharing between local governments, educational institutions, and other DCC approved users. Integration points are one-way communications and strategically, some of these may be a bi-directional exchange of information in the future. Rest APIs and Accela developed solutions are used for supporting this integration.

The DCC has highly configured the SaaS to support the objectives with two segregated instances implemented based on different lines of business. The CLEaR system encompasses the licensure of Retailers, Distributors, Laboratory, Transporters, and Event Organizer licenses. Subsequent systems consolidation added manufactured cannabis functionality within the CLEaR system leveraging existing functionality. The CLEaR system contains functionality to support Compliance and Enforcement activities as applicable to the licensing process within the system. The CLS supports the licensure of cannabis cultivation and supporting Compliance and Enforcement activities as it pertains to cannabis growers, processing of raw products, and nursery operators with California.

Data conversion from both CLEaR and CLS, will be required as part of the project effort.

Phase 2 of DCC's market research efforts will consist of requests for solution demonstrations from a select group of vendors.
High-level System Requirements (but not limited to):
Security role-based access control
Encryption at rest
Single sign on
Multi-Factor authentication
Online registration portal
Track application progress and open workflow/communication
License information
Online complaint intake - public
Case Management Tracking:
  • Complaints, compliance, administrative action, violations, cite and fine, etc.
  • Enforcement, investigations, illegal activities, etc.
  • Time tracking
  • Regional (i.e., County)
Document management:
  • Sort by category and type
  • Templates
  • Archive
Payment processing, all major credit cards and E-checks
Mobile inspections
Internal and external reporting:
  • Dashboard management
  • Automatically and manually generated
E-Signature
Address validation (foreign and domestic)
Mass messaging with read receipt:
  • Email, text, phone
  • Disaster relief
  • Application
Laboratory inventory management
Performance monitoring
Highly configurable (for example):
  • Create new application or license type within ~15 days
  • Create new data collection fields in any format
  • Create business rules calculated fields based on data added to one or more fields
Artificial intelligence
CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart)
MRQ Schedule
Key Milestones Start Date End Date
Market Research Questionnaire Posted Wednesday, November 6, 2024 Friday, December 20, 2024
Questions to State Thursday, November 7, 2024 Friday, November 22, 2024
Responses from State Thursday, November 7, 2024 Friday, November 22, 2024
Market Research Questionnaire Concludes Friday, December 20, 2024 Friday, December 20, 2024
Contact Information
All questions shall be directed to:
Email: Vendorresponse@cannabis.ca.gov


Public Records Act
Respondents are advised that all documents submitted in response to this MRQ will become the property of the State of California and will be regarded as public records under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) pursuant to Government Code section 7920.000 et seq. The intent of this Market Research Questionnaire is only to obtain current market conditions and to collect information from the vendor community related to the availability of goods and services that can meet the needs for the Cannabis Systems Integration Project (CSI). The CSI aims to integrate two licensing and enforcement systems into one centralized system. Respondents should be aware that marking the response or questions “confidential” or “proprietary” will not exclude that content if the Department receives a CPRA request. Please do not include any confidential or proprietary information in responses to this MRQ as it will be subject to the CPRA and may be disclosed to the public under the CPRA.

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