GOSS Achieves a National First With Dorsetforyou.

To-date there are now over three thousand active government websites with many government bodies having more than one. Concerns have been raised that the sheer volume, regardless of each sites performance, could confuse citizens and government is encouraging the creation of portals as a solution. A portal is a single point of access to a specific topic (i.e. school admissions, health, council housing etc) regardless of the organisation delivering the service or information.

Friday the 15^th four local authorities in Dorset switched off their individual websites following the official launch of the dorsetforyou.com portal. The dorsetforyou portal, a considerable advancement in e-government initiative and a national first for local authorities, was developed using GOSS' industry leading Intelligent Content Management (iCM) technology.

A government grant for nearly £1 million allows the partnership to provide the county's tourists and 390,000 citizens with an effective single point of online access to Dorset authorities information and services.

Examples of what is available on dorsetforyou include; access to a database of council jobs which can be applied for online, access and search across the Dorset library catalogues where items can be reserved, renewed and where members can be alerted through email when items are due for return, online forms to report problems, complaints or contact departments within the council, and the ability to view, apply or comment on planning applications.

The partnership currently includes Christchurch Borough Council, Dorset County Council, East, North and West Dorset District Councils. Alan Breakwell, Chairman of the Dorset For You Partnership and Chief Executive of East Dorset District Council, is looking to invite other public service authorities and community organisations to join. His vision for the portal is to offer a single gateway to all the local services in Dorset providing access to residents whenever, wherever, and however it suits them.

Working in partnership with Software AG, the project's prime contractor and Europe's leading supplier of XML-based solutions, GOSS' content management solution iCM provides users with a robust, feature rich, and secure portal platform that integrates seamlessly with Software AG's systems.

"The dorsetforyou site is a great achievement.  Bringing together multiple partners in an enterprise content management deployment is not just a clever technical accomplishment but brings us closer to the panacea of joined up government. The integrated services on offer will directly benefit the citizen and that is what drives these projects and the teams behind them."  Robert McCarthy, Technical Director, GOSS

Dorsetforyou is already a great success and has attracted thousands of visitors since its recent launch eight weeks ago. Alan Breakwall is encouraging people to continue to use it and let Dorset council know what they think.