By Allan Lawlor, Director, Web and Content – Cyber Security and Digital Solutions
The novascotia.ca website is an important way that our users find and access the programs and services offered by government. To be most effective, it’s important that the content about those programs and services be clear, direct, and focused on the tasks people need to complete.
As an organization that values working in the open, the department of Cyber Security and Digital Solutions (CSDS) sometimes wants to share information and stories about how those services are built. It’s with this in mind that government’s web team is proud to introduce a new platform for this kind of content – blog.novascotia.ca.
A new platform for blogs
Platform products are components or systems that we build once and reuse many times. They are a cornerstone of digital government transformation and delivery around the world. They help us create a more agile government by reducing duplication of effort, increasing consistency of user experience, and building expertise within our organization. Launching this platform means every government program that wants a blog doesn’t have to stand up their own blogging service.
Using our own product
The first blog on our platform is the one you are reading, the Cyber Security and Digital Solutions Blog. Using our own products is one way that we test and learn what makes the product good. As a reader, you will find stories of how work happened on the products and services used by people who live, work, and play in Nova Scotia, while we are testing and measuring the author and reader experiences.
It’s also a way for us to work in the open and provides more opportunities for transparency and engagement with the people we serve. You can expect to see posts from this team about how we build novascotia.ca and our digital services across government and expand on the platform approach to build websites consistently and efficiently.
Content
The stories you can expect to see on this blog will be about the diverse work of CSDS in serving the Government of Nova Scotia and making public services and technology better for everyone. Future content will include:
- showing the work of CSDS
- sharing ideas, learnings or theories
- sharing progress
- inviting opinions and engagement on what we are doing
- talking about what it’s like to work at CSDS, and more!
Next steps
Just like any other service we provide, you’re going to see us test, change, and adapt this platform. We love feedback too – feel free to send us feedback about your experience reading the blog.