Information Sharing Portals

The Kent Connects information sharing web portal has been developed to create a virtual online space for specific groups to share information via the internet in a secure way. This allows groups or individuals from different organisations to access documents, minutes, agenda etc from a central store.  The portal itself is very flexible and will meet most groups’ / partnerships’ needs to enable them to exchange information securely. Below are some of the features that come as standard.   

A document sharing portal – “smart folders” working in conjunction with a sophisticated search function allows users to locate key documents easily. There is also the facility for all or some members of your identified group/community to have the ability to upload and download documents to and from the portal.

Discussion forums – these allow users to share ideas, comments and information online. The threads reveal all the conversations. The discussion threads can be created by any members who have access to the site. Other members can opt in or out of discussion and are emailed if they have registered an interest.

Automatic email alerts – These are sent out either real time or as part of a daily digest to members of each user group and to group subscribers. This means that members do not need to constantly check the portal, but will be notified of any changes to the site that they have expressed an interest in.

User Groups - Users are allocated to a user group which allows them access to their part of the site. Within this, they can add, delete or amend pages.  These groups can be closed or open to others using the site.

Subscription – Users can subscribe to other groups and receive the email alerts for these groups. Default subscriptions can be set so that members cannot “opt out” of receiving updates to groups which they need to be members of.

Self-publishing portal – Users, who are assigned to a group, are able to publish documents, pages, news links, etc themselves.  While this prevents “bottlenecks”, it is important to ensure publishing standards are established at the outset.   

Calendar – Provides instant information about meetings, agendas and related documents.  Dates can be automatically entered into MS Outlook or similar.

Comments – All items on the site can have comments.  This can be disabled if required.  

New Users – can be added easily by site administration. Passwords are generated automatically and emailed to the user, once membership is approved. Forgotten password feature also functions this way.

 For further details please contact barbara.stapleton@kent.gov.uk