Open Civic Engagement, as a Service

Salesforce.com is one option that can be used to implement Open Government.

Cloud 2.0 Apps – Open Civic Engagement, as a Service

A very good example for this is “Open Civic Engagement, as a Service”, described in this presentation.

The slide show talks through how Plone, the open source CMS (Content Management System) can be used in conjunction with Salesforce.com to create a very dynamic, Web 2.0 e-business solution for the Oregon Environmental Council Eco-Healthy Child Care unit.

This is describing Cloud 2.0 Apps, the hybrid combination of suite modules that add up to “Content + Process”, ie.

blending a Web 2.0 front-end with a back-end process system, all enabled via Cloud systems.
the strength of the hybrid modular approach vs monolith legacy apps
Cater for an ‘open data mashup’ type approach used to create new socially oriented solutions

As a top-end enterprise CMS Plone can be used to build any size and scale of front-end web site, and itself is a model-driven platform with lots of robust modules that can extend Salesforce.com, such as credit card payments integrated into the web site itself.

Plone can be run on IaaS Cloud providers, so as well as harnessing the SaaS aspects of Cloud via Salesforce.com, this can be further maximized through utilizing a social media CMS for additional value adds.

For managed service providers this drives the ideal product and sales strategy, as they can tailor solutions more for business needs, ie. selling ‘Open Civic Engagement’ solutions to Government, rather than yet more web hosting.