Bee is a content management system. With it users can input content, which is stored in a database, to be used for web publishing (e.g. an e-government portal).
Bee's functionality covers:
- content input
- workflow
- reporting
There are two levels of users in Bee - Web Authors and Custodians. Web Authors create content. Custodians can create content and authorise its publication. For example: the typical workflow for publishing a tender advertisement on an e-government portal would be:
- Web Author uses Bee's Tender Ad form to input the tender advertisement.
- On completion the Web Author sends this to a Custodian for authorisation.
- The Custodian reviews the tender advertisement, and if satisfied, authorises it.
- The tender advertisement is now published on the e-government portal.
Screenshots:
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| A window for inputting a tender advertisement | | A Web Author's Job Queue, showing workflow |
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| A window for inputting a publication | | A report of all Bee users (Custodians are in red, Web Authors in black) |
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| The results of a report on all content items | | Comments can be attached as part of the workflow of authoring a content item |
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Bee was originally designed and developed as a part of the Cape Gateway Development Project (January 2002 - August 2003). Its aim was to build an e-government portal (Cape Gateway) providing easy access to government information and services, focusing on the Western Cape, South Africa. A tool was required for the geographically disparate content team (including members from different government spheres, various departments and freelancers) to input content to a central repository (database), and to get the content authorised for publication on the portal.
First a data model of government was modelled to understand the structures and content that would need to be catered for. Next a Functional Design Specification (FDS) was written describing the functionality required by the tool (broadly: content input, workflow and reporting). The User Requirements Specification (URS) was written to describe how that functionality was to be brought about in the application. The Technical Platform Specification (TPS) was written to document the technical platform (the hardware and software environment) Bee would need to be deployed in.
A tender was put out to find a software developer. Visual Information Systems (VIS) won the tender, and developed Bee according to the above specifications.
The objective is to improve Bee's usability. This will be done by usability studies, the results being fed into the next Bee design and development process.
Bee is available for free license to all government organisations in South Africa and internationally. The aim is that through inclusion, government organisations can work together on standards for government content. Once common standards are agreed, sharing of content will be enabled, which can be of social and economic benefit to an information-age society.
For example if all government organisations in South Africa agree to a common standard for the structure of a tender advertisement, tender advertisements can be input once by an organisation, and shared with all the other organisations for publication; meaning that the tender advertisement goes out to a wider audience, giving more businesses an opportunity to do business with government, and giving government a wider selection of suppliers/service-providers.
The free licensing of Bee also aims to help government organisations on their roads to e-government. By creating a common solution for government content management and publishing, governments can save time and money on their e-government journeys.
Government organisations' participation is essential for the building of common standards and a content management tool that is of use to all.
Bee's latest design specifications are provided here for those interested in the detail and to help those developing similar projects.
- Data Model
- Functional Design Specification (FDS)
- User Requirements Specification (URS)
- Technical Platform Specification (TPS)
Data Model: Kris Mortenson, Alan Levin, Chris Higgo, Fatima Boltman,William Sinclair, Vernon Bowers, Harold Wesso, Katherine de Tolly
Functional Design Specification: Kris Mortenson, Alan Levin
User Requirements Specification: Chris Higgo, Tracy Gander
Technical Platform Specification: Alan Levin, Fatima Boltman
Software Development: Visual Information Systems (VIS): Jonathan Muir,Desmond Coetzer, Hussein Banderker, Danie Kritzinger
The design specifications are the copyright of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. They may be freely distributed in whole.
Bee software code is the copyright of Visual Information Systems.
- About Bee
- Licensing
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Cape Gateway is a government service aimed primarily at citizens of the Western Cape, providing information on local, provincial and national government |  |