The different needs of local and central Government Portals (repost from blog.entando.com))

The Governments have begun a process of "innovation" with a new approach based on participation, sharing and collaboration.
In recent years the use of the web has changed from the simple consultation of information it has moved to the ability to create and edit multimedia content, and to allow people to contribute and share ideas.
Portals play an important role in this new paradigm because they allow governments to accelerate the transformation of the relationship between governments their stakeholders (citizens, employees, other organizations).
But, are we sure that local and central Governments have the same needs?
In Entando we have a lot of case studies of governments portals, from the small municipality websites to central governments service portals, each with different needs. Infact Entando is a versatile platform that can be used to build tailor-made solutions for a wide range of projects.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Cagliari Municipality for example uses Entando for different types of  web applications: from simple informative websites to service portals for citizens and intranet for employees.
How does Entando help the Municiplaity of Cagliari to meet its needs?

• gives to citizens access to government information and services through the portals
• citizens can apply and pay for online services, with automated workflows helping to ensure efficient processing
• provides collaboration services like feeds, blogs and maps that helps citizents and empolyees to stay in touch with the governments in new and cost-effective ways
• intranet portals that helps employees stay informed and provide them with the tools they need to perform their duties in a more informed and efficient manner

So, the use of the Entando platform helps local governments to promote transparency, listening, engagement and dialogue with citizens and create an integrated work environment in which employees tracking information, receiving services and, increasingly, carry out their daily activities and their work processes.
 
CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS
But what about Central Governments? They have quite different needs from local governments. For example the Italian Civil Protection Department  or Italian Ministry of Justice, besides their need to encourage citizen communication they also need to talk to each other and provide interoperability between all systems.
For them Entando provides services and a technology web framework that helps to:

• integrate e-government service offerings across different agencies
• reduce the need to log on to different agency websites to order services or find information
• provide a platform for business stakeholders to interact with stimulus efforts and provide transparency
• tools that assist in the development of domain specific web applications and new web products
• federated portal system

Entando provides technological tools that accelerate the process of innovation in central governments.
 
COMMON NEEDS
We spoke about the different needs of local and central governments, but have they also common needs. Of course, these common needs represent the guidelines for the creation of portals in public sectors.
Entando flexibility allows easy personalization of the platform to meet government specific needs but also common guidelines offering:

• a portal that is highly configurable by an end user with no technical skill
• easy to use CMS (Content Management System)
• a platform compatible with accessibility international standards like and specific government laws for both front end and administration area
• highly interactive and accessible services that implements the paradigm of participation and collaboration
• adopts open standards and architectural patterns

If you are interested in more information about Entando Government Portals visit our website.