SkinnyOhio is a site created to promote smarter and efficient government. When State Auditor David Yost envisioned the project he wanted to do more then create another site that had at lot of feel good but unusable information. He decided to create an interactive portal that government agencies could use to learn from each other and to share resources in a way that was previous impossible.
How do you create a website that shares the best practices of government agencies. Add to the complexity that these agencies are of varying sizes, operate under different regulations and server vastly different groups of Ohio citizens and you have a real challenge. State Auditor Yost called the combined efforts of Conrad Phillips Vutech and Switchbox to find a solution to this problem.
After reviewing the core needs for the site a tremendous opportunity was uncovered. The Auditor had been compiling a wealth of best practice case studies and information that could be shared. The problem was that the information was cumbersome to search, and difficult to categorize. The site also had to be built on the CMS platform DotNetNuke which did not have any native functionality to store and search this proprietary data. Switchbox worked with the team at CPV and the Auditor’s office to make the content searchable for all the users of the site. Two custom data tools where created and the data was imported into the new format. A variety of other tool to help nominate the top performers, request help directly from the auditors office and an easy way for agencies to contribute content to the database were all completed for the project.
A successful site launch achieved all of the goals presented by the Auditor and for the first time provided access to years of compiled audits and expert content. Agencies were able to not only read about related improvement programs but were also able to share their own stories with anyone in the state.
Savings programs available
Performance audits completed
Ohio counties represented
Success stories