The website of the North Shore City Council won five awards in the recent Association of Local Government Information Management’s (ALGIM) annual survey of council websites – including second place in the Supreme Web Award. The council’s website was awarded first place in the best redeveloped website category, in both the expertly judged and People’s Choice divisions. It also got the top prize in the best new feature website – large council category, for its innovative online consenting solution, in both the expertly judged and People’s Choice divisions. As well, it secured second place in the Supreme Web Award, which was won by the Porirua City Council.
The judges also said the Online Consenting Solution, launched by North Shore City in mid-2009, was a “fantastic tool with many innovative areas… [and] easy to navigate, making it very usable for customers”.
ALGIM’s judges, who remain anonymous, said the redevelopment of the North Shore City Council website had been effective. The site, they said, had user-friendly and helpful features.
General manager Customer and Information Services at North Shore City Council, Tony Rogers, says winning the awards is recognition of the decision by the council to provide services that are customer-centred and use channels that customers prefer.
The North Shore City Council is number 91 in the 2009 MIS100, the annual report of CIO magazine on the largest ICT using organisations in New Zealand.
Eighty-five councils across the country were judged in the awards, which assess websites from both technical and content perspectives, including innovativion, effectiveness and usability. The awards also assess compliance against the Government Web Standards, information and service content.
The results of the evaluation were announced at the 2010 ALGIM Web Symposium, held in Wellington in the first week of May.
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