The launch of the new Monmouthshire web site CMS is to provide a robust and flexible platform from which the County’s future service delivery strategy can be built.
Monmouthshire County Council has always aspired to be an efficient and effective organisation in delivering services to its citizens. The launch of Monmouthshire's new web site is to provide a robust and flexible platform from which the County's future service delivery strategy can be built.
The Welsh Assembly Government Report 'Making Connections: delivering better services for Wales' is the drive for Monmouthshire's vision to produce a modern local government website. Monmouthshire's previous web site did not have the flexibility, functionality or accessibility capabilities required to deliver this vision.
Monmouthshire undertook a full tendering exercise to select its future web partner. The specification highlighted the solution needed to allow citizens to carry out an 'intuitive' search of council services, using a web interface that was simple, easy to navigate and use whilst providing features such as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), A-Z and a powerful Search mechanism.
A key additional requirement was to identify a content management system that could provide a 'customer driven' service interface enabling the navigation and content to be structured from the customer perspective rather then service driven.
The evaluation resulted in the selection of Jadu, a market leading content management system provider and Jadu CMS as the web platform that would support Monmouthshire's vision for service delivery. Monmouthshire also selected a number of additional Jadu modules including Jadu Galaxies and Jadu's 'Rupa' Enterprise Search for the Monmouthshire community search.
'An appealing factor of Jadu is the range of additional enterprise modules available. The ability to hook into these at a later stage will ensure that Monmouthshire is able to provide a modern, cost effective, local government web site now and well into the future' says Hayley Jones, E Government Officer.
The next step for Monmouthshire is to bring in-house, council services that have previously been outsourced for web development and hosting. Initial services to be brought in-house include - Libraries, Tourism and the Youth Service, plus the potential for Monmouthshire schools to have their sites standardised by using the Galaxies module. Customised sites will be developed by the Monmouthshire web team utilising the Jadu Galaxies module. This approach will enable Monmouthshire to deliver significant and rapid cost savings.
The Galaxies module will enable services to take advantage of the corporate CMS whilst still maintaining their individuality. The multimedia and e-consultation modules will provide added richness to the site and provide an additional channel for citizen engagement'.
Hayley Jones - E Government Officer - Monmouthshire County Council
Monmouthshire also intends to expand its self-service delivery features such as online bookings, payments and to provide an e-consultation facility which will increase citizen engagement and electronic transactions with the Council. The new web site will also enable Monmouthshire to gain greater usage and take-up of GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Monmouthshire is currently looking to replace its 'customer service call logging system' with a plan to have full integration with the web to enable users to report issues and request council services directly into the Customer Records system.
"Monmouthshire County Council
has a clear vision for customer service delivery" says Suraj Kika, CEO
of Jadu. "The Council's approach is both forward thinking and focussed
on customer engagement and satisfaction - a strategy designed to make
people's lives richer and happier."
'The investment has provided a
foundation upon which we can deliver a range of online, self serve
services now and into the future' says Hayley Jones, E Government
Officer.
www.monmouthshire.gov.uk
www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/search
About Monmouthshire County Council
Monmouthshire County Council was created in 1996 and the principal area is divided into forty-two electoral divisions. Monmouthshire covers 850 square kilometres with nearly half its 84,855 residents living in the main towns of Abergavenny, Monmouth, Usk, Chepstow and Caldicot with a population of 84,855.
The council's key aims are to - Making Monmouthshire cleaner and greener; Helping people enjoy healthier lives; Creating learning opportunities for all; Stimulating strong local economies; Supporting safer and stronger communities and improving the council's effectiveness.
Further information on Monmouthshire County Council can be found at www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/
