Award-winning mobile intranet at UK Houses of Parliament

by Guy van Leemput
January 20, 2012
Tags: intranet, mobile
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Imagine an organization with highly skilled knowledge workers that are almost never at their desks… And where almost 40% of the workforce is changed overnight… How would you design this organization’s brand new intranet?

Welcome to the UK Houses of Parliament!

In the ramp up to the UK’s general election of May 2010, Sharon O’Dea, responsible for the intranet of the UK Parliament, faced quite a few challenges. She had to redesign an ageing intranet and deal with the expected arrival of more than 250 new Members of Parliament. MPs are highly mobile and also highly skilled. They spend much of their day debating in the chamber, meeting their constituents and interest groups, and working in committees. This means they’re rarely at their desk for long stretches of time. Clearly a mobile intranet is the only solution.

An award-winning mobile intranet

Sharon responded to the challenge with solid research, smart technology choices and a focused launch as part of the new member induction day, just after the election. The result is a mobile intranet that has won international recognition, including a 2011 Intranet Innovation Award from Step Two Designs.

Mobile intranets on the rise

An increasing number of organizations is expanding its intranet into the mobile space, as shown in Jane McConnell’s recent Digital Workplace Trends 2012 report, but great cases such as the one from the UK Parliament are still rare. Sharon will reveal many more insights, good practices and lessons learned during the intranet conference track on Thursday 10 May. And this year the conference also features a full-day SharePoint track on Wednesday 9 May!