Must-See DrupalCon 2023 Picks for Government
The City of Washington, D.C., the State of New York Governor’s Office, Orange County, Calif., the U.S. General Accounting Office, and NASA are just a few of the thousands of public sector websites worldwide that are on Drupal.
Why does Drupal have such a strong appeal for federal, state, local government sites? Lots of reasons.
Key among them is the community, and the collective brainpower that drives the Drupal’s steep upward trajectory of innovation and greater possibilities.
No where is the power of Drupal’s collaborative community more palpable than at the annual DrupalCon event, where developers, marketers, and IT leaders from every sector gather to share what they know, get smarter, and connect with a community that’s like none other in the world.
Myself, along with a solid contingent of “Promethians” are all set for this year’s DrupalCon Pittsburgh. As we determine our schedules for the big event, we thought it would be helpful to share our top picks for sessions that promise to be of particular interest to federal, state, and local government attendees, as well as vendors who serve this sector.
The Big Impact of Open Source
Monday, June 5, 1:30-2:20 EDT
The concept of Open Source appears to run counter to competitive, capitalistic notions of every organization closely guarding the secret sauce that makes them special. Promet Source believe that open source software is more secure and inherently more innovative than proprietary options, and as such, it’s the right choice for public-sector sites. We’re looking forward to hearing what Open Source Evangelist, Mathias Bolt Lesniak has to teach us about Open Source as a model for good governance, democracy, and a better world.
Beyond WCAG Compliance: Next Steps in your Website’s Commitment to Digital Inclusion
Monday, June 5, 3:00-3:50 EDT
For government websites, WCAG compliance is not just the right thing to do. It’s often a legal requirement. Deeply committed to accessibility and inclusion, I’m looking forward to hearing what Andrew Mallis has to say about an approach to digital accessibility that looks beyond WCAG specifications with a sharpened focus on the spirit of usability and digital inclusion.
How Drupal Powers the Global UN Refugee Agency Fundraising Platform
Tuesday, June 6, 11:30-12:20 EDT
In a free society, every government website has the potential to serve as a force for good, and when the stakes are particularly high, Drupal proves up to the challenge. It's both inspiring and instructional to learn about the Drupal’s power and impact around the world where the need is greatest.
UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people.
UNHCR needed to build one web platform that supports online fundraising in more than 20 global markets with a centralized admin experience. Mohammed Razem will describe the Drupal-based solution that included a donations platform, utilizing a powerful suite of modules and services used to achieve objectives of speed and versatility with a multinational application including Drupal Commerce and Layout Builder.
This sounds like an amazing story and the ultimate must-see session.
Government Summit
Thursday, June 8, 9 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. EDT
Once again, Promet Source is serving as a sponsor of the DrupalCon Government Summit.
This years’ Government Summit offers up a solid selection of sessions concerning the effective approaches to digitizing forms, streamlined multilingual implementation, best practices for Drupal developers in the government sector, web accessibility updates, and a lot more.
Government Summit attendees include federal, state, and local government employees, as well as private sector employees who supporting government clients – IT leadership, project managers, content editors, full-stack developers, and creative leads.
Promet is thrilled for the opportunity to serve as a Government Summit sponsor again this year. We’ll be a presenter among a solid slate of must-see sessions and we're looking forward to engaging with attendees during casual idea exchanges and brainstorming opportunities.
While every session on the Thursday’s Government Summit ranks as must-see, here are two that are at the top of my list.
Building a Robust Community of Content Managers
Thursday, June 8, 10:45-11:30 a.m.
Content management is on a transformational trajectory, and I am eager to attend what promises to be a fascinating presentation by Scott Horvath, Technical Information Specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Scott appears to have a lot to teach us concerning how the USGS leveraged Jira, Confluence, and Teams build a repeatable process for onboarding, training, certifying, re-certifying, support and documentation for content managers. Within the government sector, ensuring alignment with legal requirements and policies related to web publishing is distinct challenge -, along with individual agency requirements, branding, and governance.
Transforming Outreach and Connectedness Among Martin County, Florida’s 1,100 Employees
Thursday, June 8, 11:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
Full disclosure: Promet’s Lori Nicolanti and Peter Ross will be leading this presentation 🙂. That said, their message is an important one. Too often, the internal audience of employees is treated as an afterthought of web design and development for public sector sites. Martin County created a robust intranet within their public-facing Drupal CMS, and the result has been greater efficiencies on multiple levels, plus peace of mind among employees who now know where to go to find the documents and information that they need – when they need them.
See You at DrupalCon 2023!
If you are attending DrupalCon Pittsburgh, be sure to drop by Booth No. 329 and say hi. We are experts on the distinct needs of public sector websites – both the challenges and the next-level solutions that make a big difference -- and we are always willing to exchange perspectives and best practices.
Not planning to be at this year’s DrupalCon? We’re still here to help. Lets talk!
