German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Internet, Intranet, Extranet)
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Since 2000, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) relies on Infopark's Content Management System for maintaining the web content of their departments. |
About the BMZ
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has more than 600 employees. About 80 percent of them are based in the ministry’s office in Bonn, while the others work at the Berlin office. The BMZ develops the guidelines and the fundamental concepts on which German development policy is based.
Interactive Internet
As the Content Management System (CMS) was introduced, the internet presence was also redesigned from scratch, and the content was completely restructured. The editorial staff is now able to write and edit articles independently. The editors of the various departments have individual system accounts, giving access to their department’s content only. Additional assistance is provided by features such as the automatic import of Word documents.
The CMS supports the delivery of video streams (Real video) as part of the online services offered. For the ordering system, which allows website visitors to order booklets online, interfaces to the CMS were developed. Furthermore, for the purpose of online chats among ministers, state secretaries, and interested internet users, a chat system was developed and integrated into the CMS.
The content is maintained decentrally by editors of the specialized departments. Technical issues are taken care of by Babiel GmbH.
Exemplary Accessibility
The Information Technology Accessibility Act (BITV) demands that federal websites have to be barrier-free. The BMZ successfully passed the ministry test in 2007. Obviously the BMZ has done everything the way it should as they relaunched their site with Infopark CMS Fiona.
The BMZ site is exemplary not only regarding their HTML pages but also with respect to PDF files. The BMZ is the only ministry whose website services fully meet these requirements.
Once more, BMZ demonstrated its good accessibility at BIENE award 2008 and was among the finalists in the category “Complex Information and Communication Offerings”. The beneficial lottery “Aktion Mensch” and the “Digitale Chancen” foundation presented the BIENE award to the best accessible websites on the internet for the fifth time. “BIENE” means “Accessible Internet Establishes New Insights”.
Secure Communication with Branch Offices
For secure communication with the numerous international branch offices, an extranet based on Infopark CMS Fiona was implemented. The branch employees exchange information by means of password-proteced accounts.
Getting to Know Each Other on the Intranet
Since 2002, the BMZ also uses Infopark CMS Fiona on their intranet. As a special feature, a who is who game has been integrated. This application randomly places a photo of an employee, her name, and her job description on pages requested, helping colleagues to find out about each other.
With Fiona into the World
Also, the website of the initiative “weltwärts” was realised with Infopark CMS Fiona. This initiative is the new voluntary service as part of the development policy of the BMZ. The BMZ financially supports young adults who are active in developing countries.
