Public Institutions have increased focus on digital self-service and accessibility

Copenhagen, Monday, November 22, 2006

Sitecore CMS is the product behind many of this year’s self-service and accessibility award winners in the Danish public sector. Unfortunately there are still far too many below-standard public websites. The Danish Parliament will shortly produce new legislation addressing this area.

“Top of the Web” (Bedst på Nettet) is a project run by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation that once a year measures the quality of public websites based on benchmark criteria across four main areas; user friendliness, digital self-service, efficiency and openness, as well as accessibility. The award winners were made public by the Danish Minister of Science, Helge Sander, at an event at the University of IT.

The three award winners with solutions based on Sitecore’s platform were: The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University,  and Høje Taastrup Municipality The Working Environment Information Centre . Recently Høje Taastrup Municipality has experienced a surge in usage of the self-service functions on website. “The award is a major recognition of the effort we have made. We were the only Municipality to pass the very rigorous demands for technical accessibility,” says the Information Director for HøjeTaastrupMunicipality, Birgitte Skov. “The award encourages and inspires us to apply more effort, not just to win competitions but, more importantly, to further increase the service level towards the citizens,” says the Information Director.

Sitecore is the CMS platform for six out of the eight highest ranked municipal websites. CEO Michael Seifert is pleased with the extensive knowledge sharing that happens in the public sector. “In contrast to the private business community, the public sector in Denmark is extremely good at cooperating. Therefore we see the award winners quickly becoming role models within the public sector. Public authorities are usually willing to share their experience and knowledge they have gained while undergoing the comprehensive process of improving online efficiency”.

Sitecore CMS was also used by Netmester, this year’s winner of the more recent “Best for the Net” (Bedst til Nettet) award. This is a parallel competition where seven suppliers competed to deliver the best tool for creating fully accessible websites. The area of accessibility, providing a website that is accessible to people with disabilities, is receiving more and more attention and was, therefore, the theme for this year’s competition. Winning this award is extremely valuable as it specifically distinguishes the functionality and foundation software that ís necessary for creating accessible websites.

The National IT and Telecom Agency, which runs both competitions, is also producing a report with recommendations for the future. These recommendations will form the basis for legislation covering minimum requirements for public website compliance. Sitecore’s CEO Michael Seifert gladly welcomes this development. “It is appealing that the public sector in Denmark sets the scene and works effectively towards increasing user friendliness and accessibility – especially since some 20% of the population has to live with some sort of disability that affects their ability to access a website,” says Siefert.

About Sitecore

Sitecore has, since 2001, produced content management systems which allow companies in a simple and manageable fashion to control the content of their websites and integrate with external IT systems, such as the CRM. The company has a well established network of Solution Partners and an extensive network of certified developers. The company is amongst the leaders within innovative CMS software and associated products.

Sitecore’s system is based on Microsoft .NET technology and the Worldwide Web consortium’s open Internet standards. Sitecore is the best choice for integrating IT systems and internet within an organisation.

The Sitecore partner network covers a broad spectrum of successful companies in 44 countries worldwide. Amongst their customers are a range of major corporations, for example, ABN Amro, FMC, Beiersdorf, Webtrends, Newspaper Association of America, J. Lauritzen, Experian Group, Loopbaan BV, Nilfisk-Advance, NKT Cables, Perstorp, and International Merchant Services along with a long list of public organisations and municipalities such as the North Vancouver Schools District and City of Sioux Falls

Michael Seifert , CEO, Sitecore Corporation