I was interviewed by Claire McEntee for an article for The Dominion Post (opens new window) last week and just realised it made it into last Monday’s InfoTech Weekly section. Reproduced here for your viewing pleasure. Please ensure you come along on April 28th at the Treasury’s offices! More info here: http://plone.org/events/wpd/2010/wellington-new-zealand (opens new window).

THE Treasury will host a demonstration of open source content management system Plone for government departments this month.

Tim Knapp, from the Python User Group – which is running the April 28 event – says Plone, which lets users manage their websites, has already been adopted by the Treasury, the Office of the Auditor- General, the Electricity Commission and the Women’s Affairs Ministry.

Plone differs from other content management systems in that it lets organisations manage security granularly, he says, specifying the powers various users have to make changes and run different versions of websites at the same time, so users can easily edit websites and publish updates.

Sigurd Magnusson, chief marketing officer at open source firm SilverStripe – which has developed its own content management system, says he supports government agencies working together and sharing their experiences.

However, he said it would be inappropriate if the demonstration turned into a sales pitch for Plone.

‘‘If it has some type of involvement with government then best practice would be to have a neutral position and say, ‘These are the things that have gone well and these are the things that haven’t gone well’.’’