Government That Gets It
Leading the way in New Mexico, scene from a WPA mural in Raton
Working with a superb group of folks from Raton, NM as well as Sophie Martin PR, FosterMilo launched a truly citizen-focused website this week:
Official City Website for Raton, NM
What makes this site so special? We're glad you asked.
Use of Open Source Software
Government leaders the world over are realizing the benefits of going open source. (Italy, Vietnam, U.S., Brazil, Belgium to name a few...)
However, Raton is only one of a handful in New Mexico to save taxpayer funds by building a website that supports the principles and practices of open technology standards.
The new Raton website uses the Plone content management system.
Leaders in the UK argue that "the government needs to stop thinking that when it comes to procuring IT systems big is always beautiful. Designing big projects means only a few companies can deliver them, and this means higher costs when suppliers let the public sector down."
By selecting the open source Plone CMS, Raton avoids vendor lock-in and costly licensing fees, setting an example for other municipalities.
Focus on Community Engagement
City leaders wanted not only to inform, but also to engage the Raton community through its new website. Using Flickr and custom programming in Plone, we developed an elegant solution.
Here's how it works:
- Anyone with a digital camera and access to the internet can upload photos of Raton to the community photo pool on Flickr.
- The Raton webmaster moderates photos for appropriateness.
- Approved photos are automatically fed into the photo box at RatonNM.gov
That's just one small way Raton is committed to building community. Next time you're passing through, bring your camera!
Designed from a Citizen's Perspective
Rare is the inclusion on Raton's new site of bureaucratic "department-speak." Thanks to previous citizen card-sorting studies, FosterMilo was able to create an information architecture that clustered content into 7 human-friendly categories:
- City Services
- Arts & Rec
- Community
- Transportation
- Government
- Public Safety
- Business
Raton leaders strongly supported this approach both in the main navigation and on pages throughout the site. There's no "Department of Solid Waste" page found here. Instead, the page that lists pickup schedule and fees is called straightforwardly -- just as a citizen would expect -- "Garbage."
The site, of course, is anything but. And we're proud to be involved in building an open and responsible government.
