A new building permit software designed to reduce wait times for new buildings appears to be gaining progress on Oʻahu.
It's been 10 months since the City and County of Honolulu adopted the new platform HNL Build, which was designed to streamline the permitting process with digital and AI tools.
A statewide task force has also been helping Hawaiʻi pick up the pace with its planning and permits.
The Simplifying Permitting for Enhanced Economic Development Task Force — or SPEED Task Force — is an interagency group dedicated to breaking down barriers in Hawaiʻi’s permitting processes.
Hawaiʻi State Rep. Greggor Ilagan serves as the chair of the task force, and he spoke with HPR about its ambitions for the future of permitting in Hawaiʻi.
“The unique thing about what we're doing is we're finally breaking down these walls, so these departments are talking to each other,” Ilagan told HPR. "This is probably one of the few times that the permitting directors from each county are actually talking to each other, and this is what really brings out the solutions.”
The task force shared its observations with lawmakers in May and is working on a final report to deliver at a summit scheduled for January 2027.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 22, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
