Benchmarking Study
on the Situation of
the United Nations System and
Development Institution Websites
Results of the World Bank Conference
Web for Development: Learning from experience
November 20-21, 2003
CI - BPI/WEB – January 2004
Table of content
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Method
Results
Competitive advantages and
weaknesses
Elements for improvements
Method
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Survey conducted by the World Bank toward the following
international institutions:
ADB, BIS, CEC, CGIAR, CIDA, Development Gateway, FAO, IAEA,
ICAO, ILO, PAHO, Red Cross, UN, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF,
UNDP, UNOPS, Wold Bank, WHO, and 11 other unspecified
organizations
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Documents from the Web for development: Learning from
Experience conference, organized by the World Bank
(november 20-21, 2003)
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Interviews: CI and BPI/WEB
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Navigational comparison of organizations websites
Results of the survey organized according to
the following key aspects of web building :
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Portal purpose
Audience’s definition
Content
Structure of Information and User Interface
Technical architecture
Organizational design
Management
Marketing
Results: Purpose of a portal
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Internet needs to be used as a valuable tool
to interact with stakeholders
– World Bank: “Web catalyse institutional change”
– WHO: “Web shows a unified organization which
delivers relevant information and interacts with its
public”
– UNPD: “All stakeholders benefit from a service
environment”
– OECD: “The civil society ask for more dialog and
transparency”
Results: Audience definition
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Audience definition is essential to build
useful websites
– IAEA: audience surveys used for feedback and
response on user outreach development
– World Bank: multiple audience evaluation to get
better profile data, perceived value of the site
and areas of interest
– UNICEF: surveys help implement internal web
culture
Results: Content
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Content comes from internal and external sources
Intranets become Knowledge Management tools:
– IAEA: KM tool is a motor for the website development
– OECD: collaborative practices favour internal
communication and content development
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English is the rule; multilingualism is rare. To
develop it:
– UN: agreements with universities
– WHO: full time translators
– Other: central translation team
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Most content is available for free
Results: Structure of Information & User interface
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Structure of Information is user-oriented
– BIS: “you should always know where you are and where else
you can go to”
– UNICEF: sites were first organized on organizational chart, while
now on needs and interests of target audiences
– OECD: customization devices sometimes reduce the scope of
knowledge and content availability
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Navigational standards
– Tool bar on the top
– Navigation bar on the top and on the left
– Navigation is coherent everywhere in the site
Results: Technical architecture
Choice and implementation of a CMS, and a search
engine are among of the first main challenges faced by
organizations
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Content
editing needs standards and guidelines to
optimise CMS and search engine choice
– ADB: web posting guidelines systemize standards
– IAEA: start with a prototype site
– Development Gateway: to transform data to XML, standards
and tools have to be set
Results: Organizational design
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Most web-publishing activities are decentralized
with central monitoring
– Most central team range from 1 to 4 persons, with 25 staffs
members involved as a whole
– UNESCO: central team comprises 5 to 10 persons working
with 50 to 100 staff members across the organization
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Optimising organizational design benefit the website
– General issue: lack of human resources
– Standards and tools for information sharing participate to
the optimization of standards and tools
Results: Management
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General lack of senior level policy
guidance
– ADB: Strong senior level support is key for
success, ensures standards implementation and
quicker website harmonization
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No outsourcing to keep control on
standards maintenance and continuity of the
sites
Results: Marketing
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External marketing devices range from:
– Press releases; Brochures and hand outs;
Attendance at conference; Presentations by CIO
and other big names; …
To
– Site newsletters; Logo placements on other
websites; Special web based events; …
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Internal marketing means promoting
web thinking internally
Competitive advantages and
weaknesses
of UNESCO’s portal
in comparison with
other international institutions
websites
Competitive advantages
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50 years of experience, and solid networks
8 years of experience and content
spreading on Internet: UNESCO’s presence
on the web dates from 1995
Many staff members involved in sector’s
websites or web cross-cutting projects:
acquisition of experience, creation of
online communities, development of the
technical infrastructure
A central web team: BPI/WEB exists since
2002
Weaknesses
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No Knowledge Management policy or
tools: decentralized content workflows,
heterogeneous databases,..
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Historical impulse is technical: no initial
editorial or navigational coherence, no data
standards
Elements for improvement
Elements for improvement (1/2)
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Audience surveys to define portal’s audiences and
communities needs
– Focus groups, statistics, individual interviews
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Content workflow, knowledge management,
and communities of practice:
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Knowledge Management system
Solid workflow between Intranet/Extranet/Internet
Set of objectives regarding communities involvement
Set of clear standards and guidelines
Elements for improvement (2/2)
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Organizational design and
management:
– Steering committee: define portal’s objectives
and internal promotion
– Active support of top management
– Central operational team: implement the project