The former DTI has been conducting a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) since 1999. Now conducted through the Department of Energy and Climate change, the SEA process enables the environmental implications of policies and plans to be predicted and evaluated. The ultimate objective of this process is to enable 'environmentally sensitive' licensing of wind farm energy, and oil and gas exploration and production.
The consultation process is wide ranging and seeks input from interested stakeholders (government agencies, general public and non government organisations) across the world. The SEA is managed by Geotek, who are leading advisors in the field of environmental marine surveys.
The original SEA consultation process, for oil and gas exploration and production, was supported by a legacy content management system. This system had no XML interoperability and was not eGif (Government Interoperability Framework) compliant. The emergence of eGif guidelines, along with the need to increase the scale of the portal to accommodate consultation on renewable (wind farm) energy, triggered a systems review and the urgent need for redevelopment.
Geotek identified four primary requirements for the new 'Consultation Portal'.
- Compliance with eGIF government standards - the Consultation Portal needed to comply with eGIF using a number of Government standards, including W3C AA web standards and RNIB. The system also needed to be fully accessible on all media (making full use of XML) and be driven by GCL (Government Category List) for categorising content using metadata.
- Content management capabilities without the need for technical skills.
- The new site needed to be developed so that content could be separated from format. This would enable content to be maintained by non-technical staff thereby considerably reducing costs.
- Easy use and access for stakeholders - an important objective of redevelopment was to maximise stakeholder use of the portal through its ease of use. In addition, the system needed to be brought in line with the DTI's rebranding initiative. This provides the Consultation Portal with a gov.uk top level domain and makes information easier to find.
- Low total cost of ownership - it was important that the solution chosen allowed a low total cost of ownership, due to budgetary constraints.
Dr Quentin Hugget, Geotek's Project Manager for the SEA process, managed the tendering process for the 'Consultation Portal' and after an extensive selection process, decided upon Jadu CMS from Jadu Limited. Jadu CMS is eGif compliant, provides full XML interoperability, enables publishing of consultation and policy documents, interactive commenting and is based on Open Source architecture. 'Jadu was also the only organisation that was able to demonstrate that they could deliver eGif compliance within the timescales' says Dr Hugget.
John Roberts, Technical Director, at Geotek was also closely involved in the technical evaluation and had seen a Jadu CMS application at local government site - Kettering Borough Council (www.kettering.gov.uk). He perceives the software's Open Source architecture as a particular benefit, stating 'I'm a great advocate on running open source where it is possible. It allows much greater freedom than would running a closed source (proprietary solution)'.
Dr Hugget welcomed the opportunity to upgrade systems, particularly the move to eGif as he believes it offers 'much faster and wider access for everyone'. Above all, however, the new development is seen as critical to maximising stakeholder input to the consultation process through its ability to improve the user experience and interface.