What’s been going on recently? – well quite a bit really. I’m now settled into my new job at Consumer Focus Labs. We’ve spent a few weeks getting our systems set up (not as easy a task as we’d have liked), our development environment in place and courting ideas from anyone and everyone. We’re now pretty much ready to go and should begin to work on our first project next week.
Aside from that, I managed to push out a new version of CllrTweeps. The new version runs from a proper database, enabling us to categorize councillors by party as well as councillors. It also gives us quite a good base from which to start adding new features, so keep an eye out for more announcements over the next month or two.
As part of the development of CllrTweeps 2, I’ve spent quite a lot of time looking at the websites of local authorities. The difference between some of them is staggering. Some councils have obviously put quite a bit of thought into the designs of their website and the services they offer online. This has made me think about doing a series of blog entries looking at council websites – possibly something similar to my local elections series last year.
For now though, I’ll leave you with an example of a great set of online services from Lichfield District Council. Their web team deserve a pat on the back for the good work they’ve been doing. Also, don’t forget to submit any ideas you have for APIs or online apps you’d like to have for business data at the CF Labs website.