PloneGov: CommunesPlone a fast growing project "in production"
CommunesPlone, a PloneGov SubCommunity, has released its first finished applications, such as a meeting management tool, PloneMeeting, and a module, Teleservices that allows citizens to file documents and submit requests online. By releasing these applications, the CommunesPlone collaborative has quickly attracted more municipalities to the group, which recently reached its 100 local governments.
Brought to you by Zea Partners, based on a case study by the Open Source Observatory and Repository (OSOR), an initiative of the European Commission's. The content has been updated to reflect the project evolution.
CommunesPlone is an active PloneGov Subcommunity. In 2007, the project has released its first finished applications, such as a meeting management, PloneMeeting, and a module, Teleservice, that allows citizens to file documents and submit requests online. The fact that CommunesPlone is "in production" has quickly attracted more municipalities to the group: "we've had ten new members, and the total the total number of towns and cities taking part to the project has quickly grown to 100", says Joël Lambillotte, CommunesPlone leader and IT manager of the town of Sambreville.
Cooperative development style
Developing in Plone means dealing with individuals around the globe, rather than with a traditional organisation. "Municipal administrations aren't very good at that, you know", he says. "We hired BubbleNet, a local SME, to coach us on this way of collaboration for a year."