A leveraged procurement vehicle will be used for at least one of the systems the California Department of Food and Agriculture will develop for the medical cannabis industry.
Under its Medical Cannabis Cultivation Program, CDFA is planning to develop two technology systems supporting regulatory activities — a "track and trace" system and a separate licensing system to license cultivators and nurseries.
"The California Department of Technology has determined that the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will procure licensing software from the list of pre-approved licensing vendors on the state’s Software Licensing Program. Thus, CDFA will not be issuing the cannabis licensing Request for Proposals," CDFA announced recently about the procurement approach.
The Software Licensing Program (SLP) is administered by the Department of General Services. Software discounts are negotiated with software publishers, and those savings are passed on to the state through SLP contracts established with authorized participating resellers.
The new IT systems for the medical cannabis industry are required by statute under the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA) of 2015.
Because the systems must be functioning 16 months from now, the project charter assumed that alternative procurement vehicles might be used, although some documentation says the approval process will move through the Department of Technology's Stage-Gate life cycle.
The Department of Consumer Affairs and Department of Public Health could also develop their own licensing systems separately under the statutes of MCRSA. Four or more systems could be in development currently as California works to comply with the 2018 implementation deadline.
CDFA has published a Web page with more information about the proposed medical cannabis systems.
