DNA developing DCMS website

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport plans to revamp its website as a “cutting edge” portal by the end of the year.

Digital media specialist DNA Consulting is developing the site after winning a three-way unpaid credentials pitch. It will replace the existing site, which was designed in-house in 1996.

The project is the next stage in an overhaul of the entire department following the launch of a new corporate identity in March 1999, created by CDT Design.

DNA Consulting managing partner Chris Perry says the site will be a “showcase” for many things, including the millennium celebrations, the National Lottery, creative industries and heritage.

“It will be a portal for British cultural life for a corporate and a public audience,” adds Perry.

“The current site is limited in certain ways. It is functional but it doesn’t excite in the way the Secretary of State would like it to,” says a DCMS spokesman.

“We need to make sure people know who we are, get them posted on to other sites and provide helpful references. The Secretary of State is very keen that it’s not seen as just another Government site.”