United Arab Emirates Member State Launches Stellent-Powered E-Government Initiative
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Stellent, Ltd., the London-based subsidiary of Stellent, Inc. (Nasdaq: STEL), a global provider of content management solutions, announced today that Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) – a member state of the United Arab Emirates – has gone live with a Stellent-powered e-government portal, www.rak.ae, under the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Saud. The portal offers residents fast, easy, Web-based access to all government services, news and weather information, and facilities for handling transactions such as bill payments. Content can be accessed in Arabic or English.
The government portal team partnered with local systems integrator Microsystems to implement its Stellent-powered portal and help ensure all relevant content was included and easily accessible by visitors. The first phase of the deployment focused on providing information and links to government departments online, and integrating legacy content. The second phase, currently in progress, focuses on integrating more complex portal functionalities, such as search facilities, transactional capabilities and interactivity within departmental areas of the portal.
“Stellent has a great deal of experience in providing e-government solutions, but it is still very exciting to play such an important part in the development of a project such as this one,” said David Macey, vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Stellent. “Citizens can now access critical government services online, and the government can more quickly and easily communicate with them. In addition, the portal is playing a critical role in bringing new investment into the area to support local businesses and increase employment levels. As the portal and its functionality evolve over the next few years, the benefits will increase even more.”
Rak.ae was designed to be easily maintained by government staff. Two editors, one Arabic and one English, are employed to retain overall control of the portal’s content. Two other staff members within the e-government authority are also trained in the use of the technology to provide further resources if needed. The system was designed, however, to be compatible with Microsoft Word so that smaller changes – such as minor additions or revisions – can be made by staff without requiring special training. This ease-of-use ensures content can be updated regularly.
Microsystems was selected for this implementation based upon its ability to provide – using Stellent technology – a content management solution capable of working across different databases and platforms. The Stellent technology also provides Microsystems with a range of solutions that are scalable, have a low cost of ownership and display fast, tangible results.
“As a systems integrator, our core competency is identifying specific IT solutions to handle particular information resources for our customers,” said Sufian Barakat, business development manager at Microsystems. “Stellent was the ideal partner for us in the development of this United Arab Emirates member state government portal. Not only did the technology fit all our requirements, but it provides a seamless fit for their – and all of our other customers’ – business needs because it can be easily localised and integrated.”
12.01.2005, Stellent GmbH
