Internet sites belong to the most important instruments to communicate with stakeholders, ranging from non-governmental organizations to journalists, from professionals to citizens. This is also very true for national government agencies and municipalities in post-communist countries. Too often, politicians and executives are carried away by the exciting technical possibilities of the internet instead of taking into consideration the needs and questions of the people their website is meant for.
Dutch government agencies and companies started to use the internet for public information purposes in the nineties. With trial and error, a lot of experience has been gained since then.
In nine out of ten cases a simple and straightforward user oriented website (with or without some interactive elements) is more than enough. Website design, its initial content and the technical aspects are important, but even more vital are the structural organizational measures connected with editorial management.
Dutch experience may help to avoid mistakes and make your presence on the internet successful.
"If you hate bad websites as much as I do, you would love to hate the astonishing number of sites you find on the web with useless intros, exploding pictures and no information whatsoever."
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