The city’s website hasn’t had a makeover in years, but change is coming within the next five months. On Friday, Mayor A C Wharton’s administration announced the city had selected a team led by Linx Consulting to design and develop a new city website.
The local, minority-owned consulting firm has a budget of $252,000 in city funds to design the site, which will be built using Drupal, an open source content management system that has been used by the White House and numerous other government and corporate clients.
The public will soon by invited to make suggestions on what website changes they’d like to see through a microsite, BuildItMemphis.org. Also, on Saturday, Oct. 22nd, Linx will hold .GovCamp, a community brainstorming session on possible uses for publicly owned municipal data.
A series of more traditional public meetings has been scheduled for Memphis libraries: Oct. 27th at the Whitehaven branch, Nov. 3rd at the Raleigh branch, and Nov. 15th at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.
“My intent for a new MemphisTN.gov is to have the most helpful and dynamic website possible for the people of Memphis. Linx Consulting and their partners have proven that they have the capability to deliver that on time and on budget,” Wharton said. “Citizens want intuitive design, accessible information, and a way to make their voices heard. I want this to be a convenient and continually evolving online resource where people can communicate more easily and productively with their local government.”
