Two of the most significant goals under the Digital India initiative are: establishing e-governance, and making important government information available to citizens. If we talk about the technology that can be used effectively to achieve these goals, the Drupal CMS, because of its open-source format and abundant features can be deemed as an ideal choice . Interestingly, the CMS has been used by governments across the world to serve their citizens better. Significant examples of government websites built on Drupal include the official website of the White House, websites of the Australian government, and the French government official portal. Let us see what features of the CMS can allow the accomplishment of some of the goals under the Digital India programme effectively:
1. Availability of Powerful Distributions
Drupal’s distribution packages aid in quick development of websites serving specific goals. Interestingly, some of the distribution packages of the CMS can be used to serve the objectives of Digital India, too. For instance, the DKAN distribution package makes it possible for governments to publish and share data with website visitors, thereby letting the Digital India campaign achieve its commitment to providing information to all.
Another example of a relevant distribution package is that of Drupal Commons, which allows the building of flexible online communities and also enables cross-agency collaborations. The distribution, thus, can be used effectively for making e-governance portals that call for citizen to government interaction and interaction within government departments. Unsurprisingly, the distribution has been used by notable government websites such as the website of the US general services administration.
2. Multi Lingual Support
With the lingual diversity of India, it is a must for an Indian government portal or website to be available in multiple Indian languages. Drupal with its in-built multi lingual support and modules such as the Indic script module (that supports phonetic typing for nine major Indian languages for the end- user), makes itself an ideal candidate for building online platforms for the Indian government. Moreover, the feature of multi lingual support can be tapped to full advantage for setting up digital platforms for village panchayats, which is another of Digital India’s goals.
3. Accessibility
Considering the significance of the internet in our lives, governments across the world are working towards ensuring its accessibility to their disabled citizens. India too can take a step forward in this direction by making government portals disabled-friendly. By tapping relevant Drupal Modules and theming guidelines for making accessible websites, the Digital India initiative can reach one of the most ignored section of society, ie the disabled, too.
Considering the above-mentioned features provided by the Drupal platform, we can very well see how the platform makes for an ideal choice for building websites and portals that serve the significant goals of the Digital India initiative. We hope the ambassadors of the significant initiative hear us out and use the power of the Drupal CMS to its full effect.
4. Advanced Security
Drupal CMS has a great track record of addressing any possible security issue and has an organized process to investigate, verify, and publish the security problems. So, unlike other CMS platforms, it has its own Security team that fixes those issues. They are available round-the-clock to ensure that the best security practices are offered to the users.
Drupal a highly secured CMS, offer different security modules:
• Login Security – Helps to secure the website and add more access control features in the way you need. It bans user’s IP address as per the requirement.
• Password Policy – Ensure users create a complex and strong set of passwords.
• Security kit – Further secure the website from any forgery and hacking.
• Security Test – Decrease the insecurity of your website with automation testing.
• Two-factor Authentication – Extra security with code authenticity on mobile.
5. Quality & Affordable Maintenance
A major benefit of using Drupal is its low maintenance cost because it is open source. When you choose Drupal you are supported by a huge community that offers free security extensions, updates, modules, distributions and other timely maintenance. That’s how Indian government can actually save large amount of money and use it for other important purposes. Even the low GDP countries are using Drupal CMS for their websites.
Contributions from hundreds of thousands of developers are expanding and progressing continually. Drupal CMS is practiced and maintained by a large community of over 730,000 global users and developers.
6. Perfect for Integration
Most of the government websites have a very dull and unappealing interface, but that can change. They realized that to make people aware they need to work on the interface and provide useful content and services.
Drupal CMS is easily compatible with several other modules, services and solutions. It can easily integrate with the enterprise content, database, and internal publishing tools. You will see that every Drupal made government website has an attractive sections of latest news, announcements, government policies and information. And because it is an open source technology, it offers an amazing framework that can be easily integrated with other systems including citizen service centers, payment systems, proprietary legacy systems and more. Drupal Development Company is always backing the website operations to ensure no downtime is observed as millions of users access the website daily.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the purpose of Drupal?
Drupal is free, open source software that can be used by individuals or users having less technical knowledge to easily create and manage different types of websites. The application includes a content management platform and a development framework.
2. What language does Drupal use?
Drupal is PHP based language and every developer needs to know PHP language for any development or customization work. The reason for using PHP is it is a programming language that is flexible and simple to learn, even if you come from a different knowledge background.
3. Is Drupal free to use?
Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) having a big and supportive community. It’s used by millions of people and organizations across the globe to build and manage their websites. Government websites are also Drupal built as they demand advanced security and flexibility. Drupal is free to download and with simple modification the platform can be extended.
4. What are Drupal modules?
A Drupal module is a collection of files having some sort of functionality and is written in the PHP. Since the module executes within the context of the website, it can use all the functions and variables of the Drupal core.
