Digital Center of Excellence: Working Groups To Architect the Next GeorgiaGov Web Platform

Over the course of the next two years, the Digital Services Georgia team will architect, design, and develop the next version of the GeorgiaGov web platform and partner with agencies to migrate existing websites. The future platform will be built using Drupal 8 and instead of a simple upgrade, we’re using this opportunity to address challenges that our state agency content managers face with the current platform, as well as improve functionality for our end users.

In tandem with the technical development effort, we will be updating our digital standards and guidelines to make sure all Georgia state agencies — both those on the GeorgiaGov platform and those with separate digital properties — serve the public effectively.

The Digital Center of Excellence

Digital Center of Excellence logo

To work towards this common goal, the DSGa team is partnering with state agency experts to form 6 working groups in a Digital Center of Excellence (DCoE).

A DCoE is a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support, and/or training for focus areas. While the work of introducing new standards and updating existing standards will happen in 2018, DSGa plans to continue coordinating DCoE efforts beyond the migration.

Who Should Join?

Any Georgia state agency who wants their needs considered and ideas heard during the development of enterprise-wide digital standards should send a representative to the Digital Center of Excellence meetings. To be effective, the representative should be knowledgeable in the assigned area, particularly around how those standards or best practices would impact that agency.

Join a Working Group

Read more about working groups, expectations, and benefits of joining below.

Why Should I Join?

As a member of a Digital Center of Excellence working group, you will have the opportunity to:

  • Get your agency's needs considered in the development of enterprise-wide digital standards
  • Speak with the Drupal 8 development team with the potential to influence the new platform
  • Beta test the new Drupal 8 platform before it goes live

Working Groups

To address key focus areas, we are forming 6 Digital Center of Excellence working groups to gather expertise from state agency members, industry experts, and our own Digital Services Georgia team.

Technical

The Technical group will focus on creating standards and guidelines surrounding technical issues including, but not limited to:

  • Coding standards and practices
  • Security
  • Responsive design
  • APIs
  • Security
  • Performance
  • Form implementation
  • Handling of personally identifiable information (PII)

User Experience/User Interface (UX/UI)

The UX/UI group will focus on cultivating best practices around issues including, but not limited to:

  • Responsive interface design
  • User research and testing
  • Customizing user journeys
  • Component based design

Accessibility

The Accessibility group will:

  • Update existing standards to incorporate WCAG 2.0 AA standards
  • Create guidelines for agencies to provide experiences that are accessible to all users, regardless of ability

Data

The Data group will provide standards and guidelines around the creation and distribution of data sets including, but not limited to:

  • Data formats
  • Data cleanup
  • Visualization
  • Toolsets
  • Structure

Content Strategy

The Content Strategy group will make recommendations for guidelines on the creation, curation, and governance of content including, but not limited to:

  • Understanding your audience
  • Writing in plain language
  • Measuring content success
  • Search engine optimization

Social Media

The Social Media group will be responsible for formulating standards and guidelines surrounding the use of social media channels including, but not limited to:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Group Process and Expectations

We plan for working groups to contain state agency partners and industry experts, and they will be guided by members of the Digital Services Georgia team.

Meeting details are subject to change, but we expect the following:

Join a Digital Center of Excellence Group

Are you experienced and knowledgeable in any of the 6 areas? Do you work with someone who is?

Add your agency's voice to the discussion.

Mark any and all areas in which you have particular knowledge so we can put together well-rounded and enthusiastic teams. If you are experienced in multiple areas, we may request your participation in multiple groups.

Sign Up for a Working Group

  • Length: 2-3 hours per topic
  • Frequency: Bi-weekly to Quarterly depending on the topic area
  • Location: Digital Services Georgia, 47 Trinity Ave., Atlanta, Georgia, 30334; and online when appropriate.
  • Time Frame: Each group will meet as many times as needed until completing their objectives, but we expect the entire process to start in February 2018 and end by December 2018. Start dates for each group will stagger throughout the first several months of the year.
  • End Goal: The objective of each working group is to produce and refine relevant digital standards and guidelines for Georgia state agency digital properties.
  • Agenda: The Digital Services Georgia team will provide the agenda for the first meeting of each group.
  • Decisions: Groups will reach decisions by consensus. Members are expected to represent their respective agencies’ interests in their recommendations.

Members representing their agencies are expected to attend meetings and contribute towards their assigned focus area. Discussions that extend past the scheduled meeting time will take place via informal conferencing and email, or other discussion media as warranted.