from DSSResources.comDFAS Portal Named Among the World's 10 Best Government IntranetsARLINGTON, Va., June 21, 2004 -- The Nielsen Norman Group recently named the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's portal among the 10 best government intranets in the world. In his book, "Ten Best Government and Public Sector Intranet Designs," Jakob Nielsen and co-authors Kara Pernice Coyne and Mathew Schwartz analyze in detail the top public sector intranets from around the world and highlight the innovations and features that allow these intranets to enhance the productivity and performance of their organizations. The experts reviewed hundreds of intranets before naming the top ten which shared traits like good usability and organization, performance metrics and incremental improvements that support better work force collaboration and increase efficiency. "DFAS has made an investment in creating an intranet that empowers our nearly 15,000 employees and delivers the information and tools they need to perform their jobs more efficiently," said Zack E. Gaddy, director of DFAS. "Ultimately a well-designed intranet helps us better serve our customers -- the men and women who defend America. Our objective is to be world-class in all that we do; our portal is helping us toward that objective." "Government organizations often take heat for moving slowly in the things they do. Not so with our winning intranets. In comparison to private-sector companies, we found that the keepers of the top government intranets were especially attuned to the metrics relating to the usage and ROI of their intranets. When they saw an area for improvement, they didn't wait around to make 'the big fix.' Instead, they made important incremental changes that yielded big results," said Nielsen, founder and principal of Nielsen Norman Group. The world's top government and public-sector intranets named in Nielsen Norman Group's design competition come from five different countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden. The number of users supported by each intranet ranged from 400 to 15,000 people. In alphabetical order, the winners are: * Defense Finance and Accounting Service, United States * Department for Transport, United Kingdom (with visual design by The Team; templates by Digitext) * Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network, United States * Department for Victorian Communities, Australia * Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, United States (with Ironworks Consulting) * Government Offices of Sweden (Regeringskansliet) (with design support from Scarptor) * London Underground, United Kingdom * National Research Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (with silverorange) * Senate Republican Conference, United States (with GSL Solutions) * Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario, Canada Related Links * DFAS -- http://www.dfas.mil * Nielsen Norman Group -- http://www.nngroup.com/reports/intranet/government. About DFAS The Defense Finance and Accounting Service is the world's largest finance and accounting operation. It provides responsive, professional finance and accounting services to the men and women who defend America. In Fiscal Year 2003, DFAS paid about 5.9 million people, processed more than 12.3 million invoices from defense contractors, disbursed more than $416 billion and managed more than $194 billion in military trust funds. For more about DFAS visit http://www.dfas.mil.
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