News
UKCES website launches (06/06/2011)
The new UK Commission for employment and skills (UKCES) website has launched today. The website combines the shared platform templates with a fresh colour pallete to produce a visually striking site.
BIS Blogs go live (20/04/2011)
BIS has now launched it's own blog platform. The corporate blog is the place for Ministers, policymakers and guest bloggers share and discuss their work and ideas. The platform is hosted on the wordpress blogging platform making it simple to update and approve comments.
As well as the corporate blog it is possible to have a dedicated blog for your organisation if you have sufficuent content. For example the Public Sector Innovation team have their own blog
UK Space Agency and NMO blast off (31/03/11)
Two new sites went live on the BIS web platform during March – the newly christened UK Space Agency 
and the National Measurement Office (NMO) – bringing our tally of partners on the BIS platform to eight, and moving us one step closer to a single domain for BIS.
Niall Boyle, Director of Communications at NMO said, " For us, convergence has meant a better site navigation, clearer presentation of our consultations content, closer association with our parent Dept BIS, a more advanced content management system and an improved email alert facility."
Partners coming on board during April and May are the Insolvency Service, the Competition Commission and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
BIS website wins award (13/12/2010)
BIS's website has won the UK Sitecore Site of the Year award for its efficiency and excellent user experience.
Each year, Sitecore give awards for the best use of their web software. BIS's site, built in collaboration with Eduserv, allows the Department and its partners to use one platform to develop multiple sites at minimal cost. Non-technical staff can easily add new content in real time, and take advantage of integrating with social networking sites like Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.
BIS Head of Digital Neil Williams said: "We're thrilled and proud to win this award. The digital team and colleagues in Commercial really have built something a bit special here – not just a modern, engaging and cost-effective website for BIS, but a platform capable of running all of the Department's and its partners' websites at a fraction of the cost of their going it alone.
"We expect to save BIS more than £5 million in this spending period, and potentially save money for other departments by letting them use it too.
"It's that story – of shared infrastructure, flexibility and 'more for less' – that seems to have appealed to the judges and earned us the top prize."
Last year's overall winner was Manchester City; this year; BIS beat NHS Direct, Totaljobs.com, and Britvic amongst others for the award.
IMAGES: Above - John Turnbull (left) and Neil Williams (right) from the BIS Digital Team with Sitecore's Laust Sondergaard (centre)
