DfT consolidates websites

Department for Transport on the Road to Website Consolidation

The Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed it’s commitment to excellent online communication, announcing the signing of a new £1.2m contract which aims to rationalize the infrastructure of its multiple public facing websites, including www.dft.gov.uk. The consolidation project will tie together more than 30 existing websites and will be re-launched using Morello, content management software from Mediasurface.

The Department for Transport serves crucial information to the public through numerous websites such as; www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk, www.hedgehogs.gov.uk and www.highwaycode.gov.uk. With campaign, community and other agency websites to support, managing, creating and sharing content across its numerous websites had become increasingly challenging and costly. The re-launch of the websites with Morello will provide DfT with an opportunity to rationalize the platform which underpins all online communications, saving money, but also improving the efficiency and accuracy of data in the public domain.

In addition to greater efficiency Department for Transport content contributors and editors will benefit from the speed and ease of use of Morello, enabling them to publish information directly within a controlled environment, without having to engage with technical teams. By reducing the existing bottleneck, DfT website visitors will benefit from increased accuracy and consistency of information as the usability of Morello’s contribution interface will help the Department for Transport deliver even better communications to those people who need it.

Speaking about the new project Neil Campbell, Head of e-Communications from the Department of Transport commented; “We have a variety of online sites containing thousands of pages of information which are currently managed by a hugely devolved and skill-varied staff. We have been looking for a way to tie our existing online strategy together within a single environment but at the same time give ourselves a good basis from which we can grow in years to come. With a strong, proven background, sleek interface and extensive experience in the UK Public Sector, Morello from Mediasurface was the best solution to fit our requirements.”

The rationalization of services is a key priority for the Public Sector and this new project will support the Department for Transport’s commitment to implementing ‘shared services’. As common applications, infrastructure services, support facilities and examples of ‘best practice’ will be shared between the sites, the DfT hope that this experience will provide a framework which can be used by other government agencies to ensure the successful delivery of their CMS projects. The application and services will be deployed in a managed service environment provided by Verizon.

Contract signed June 2006

Ends

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