Example projectWeb appAIOpen-source model
Plain-language resident assistant
Hypothetical. Not a client, not a result.
// The problem
Residents cannot find which bylaw, fee or form applies to them, so they call or visit, and front-line staff answer the same questions all day.
// What we would build
An assistant on the public website that answers from published bylaws, fee schedules and service pages in plain language and links to the source, on an open-source model hosted in Canada in an account the government controls, so no resident's question leaves its jurisdiction.
// What is in it
- Answers in plain language, with a link to the bylaw or page they come from
- Hand-off to a person, by phone or a form, when the question needs judgement
- No decisions about eligibility or enforcement made by the assistant
- An evaluation set of real resident questions, reviewed by staff before every update
- An open-source model served in a Canadian region, in an account the government owns
// Stack
- Llama or Mistral (open-source)
- vLLM
- PostgreSQL with pgvector
- Next.js
- AWS Canada
// estimate
- Build
- ≈ US$112,000 to US$171,000, delivered within 23 weeksCAD 159,300 to 243,500
- Hosting
- ≈ US$6,710 a monthCAD 9,550 a month
- Support
- ≈ US$2,500 a monthCAD 3,565 a month
Prices in your currency are estimates from today's Bank of Canada rate. All invoicing is in CAD or USD.
- AI route
- Open-source model
- Model running cost
- ≈ US$6,530 a monthCAD 9,300 a month
Timeline by milestone
- Discovery
- 2.9 to 3.4 weeks
- Specification and evaluation plan
- 0.4 weeks
- Design approved
- 2.4 to 3.4 weeks
- Core features
- 1.4 to 2.4 weeks
- Full build
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
- Working pilot
- 4.4 to 7.4 weeks
- Testing and fixes
- 1.4 to 1.9 weeks
- Launch
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
- Production
- 0.9 to 1.4 weeks
Outside our hands, and added to the calendar
- Procurement and privacy review
- 4 to 12 weeks
How it is paid
- Deposit 20%
- CAD 31,800 to 48,640
- Discovery 1.8%
- CAD 2,862.00 to 4,377.60
- Specification and evaluation plan 10.5%
- CAD 16,695 to 25,536
- Design approved 1.8%
- CAD 2,862.00 to 4,377.60
- Core features 5.6%
- CAD 8,904.00 to 13,619.20
- Full build 3.7%
- CAD 5,883.00 to 8,998.40
- Working pilot 31.7%
- CAD 50,403.00 to 77,094.40
- Testing and fixes 1.8%
- CAD 2,862.00 to 4,377.60
- Launch 1.8%
- CAD 2,862.00 to 4,377.60
- Production 11.3%
- CAD 17,967.00 to 27,481.60
- Holdback, 30 days after launch (10%)
- CAD 15,900 to 24,320
- GPU time for training and testing, at cost
- CAD 300. Billed up front, at cost, outside the milestones