’SURF AND SEARCH' A SUCCESS IN SHEFFIELD

 

Sheffield City Council’s website www.sheffield.gov.uk is providing better connected services according to a report produced last week by the Society of Information Technology Managers (SOCITM).

 

Their annual survey places Sheffield alongside just six other local authorities whose websites have most improved over the last twelve months. Sheffield’s ranking jumped two places and is just one rating away from the top score.

 

Welcoming the report, Deputy Leader, Cllr. Steve Jones, said: “Visitors to www.sheffield.gov.uk can now find a range of services and downloadable forms at the click of a button. You can search the library catalogue and reserve a book, report a street light fault, search the planning applications database, check out the local weather; the list goes on.”

The Council has achieved this significant improvement thanks to a new website content management system, ‘EasySite’, developed by a Nottingham based company, EIBS Ltd. Thanks to this system in a little over a year the Council has moved from having three or four people maintaining the web to over 200, as staff across the organisation create and look after new web pages and expand the web services the Council offers.

 

The Council is now aiming to become a fully ‘transactional’ website. Over the coming months visitors can expect to see a new Home Page design with even clearer links to key services and the latest news stories. New online services in the pipeline include electronic job applications, school admissions, room and sports booking facilities, a Register Office bookings service; and more interactive consultations with customers.