OpenGov Positioned to Change the Way Governments Communicate with New Functionality

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Jul 16, 2024, 09:02 ET

OpenGov's new Publications capability is the only software to offer easy-to-build webpages, including data visualization and insights directly within the platform

SAN FRANCISCO, July 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OpenGov, the leader in government cloud software, has introduced a new capability, Publications, into its Budgeting & Planning Suite. Publications improves how local governments communicate with communities and across departments, leading to both improved public trust and operational efficiency. With Publications, cities, counties, and agencies can present complex financial information and performance data in a digestible format with just a few clicks.

Publications is a powerful templatized, no-code solution to seamlessly create online, interactive, accessible, and printable reports and narrative stories directly from the OpenGov Cloud. Publications enables governments to control the narrative by combining first-party data, enhanced graphing and visualizations with written context to make budgets, projects, and agency performance come to life for communities, councils, and departments. Users can create a Publication once and then set it to be point-in-time or update automatically, depending on the use case of a given report.

"OpenGov Publications is a game-changer for local and state governments," said Zac Bookman, founder and CEO of OpenGov. "We've expanded our public reporting capabilities so every department has the tools to communicate program effectiveness proactively with the public. At OpenGov, we're committed to providing the best tools and ensuring our customers' success. This new feature is the latest way we're helping local governments strengthen public trust."

Since its introduction, more than 130 agencies across the country are using Publications to create more than 300 online publications. These include Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) award-winning budget books, capital improvement programs, health updates, Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax project updates, safety department performance, asset condition reports, innovation and performance portals, and more. For example, The City of Phoenix is fighting the opioid epidemic and using OpenGov Publications to report resources the City is dedicating to overdose prevention and overdoses over time.

Key Features of OpenGov Publications:

User-Friendly Editor: An innovative no-code, templatized editor with rich content elements such as charts, tables, images, maps, and videos. Users can opt for customizable layouts or pre-built templates, all optimized for mobile accessibility.
Flexible Design Styles: Flexible templates make incorporating design and style guides simple so your Publications look and feel like the rest of the agency website.
Automatically Generating Online Table of Contents: The Table of Contents will generate automatically, can be configured to every project's needs, and update automatically as changes are made.
Configurable Navigation Bar: Set what the public sees and how they see it to create a unified agency brand.
Engagement Built-in: Run surveys and scenarios and collect feedback from the public to ensure the community's voice is in every key decision.
Accessible to All: Rigorous and continuous testing is done to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) AA and American Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, with a commitment to equitable access for all users.
Easily Customized PDFs: Control margins, headers, footers, and other key features of PDF exports and printing.
Available in Every Language: Built-in Google Translate means Publications are automatically available and accessible to every constituent.

"Every customer using Publications right now is inspired to share more data proactively with their residents and departments because the portal is just so intuitive," said Terrence Curley, Chief Product Officer of OpenGov. "This capability simplifies the publication process, allowing our customers to focus on strategic priorities rather than the administrative burdens typically associated with creating budget books and other important publications."

For more information about OpenGov Publications, please visit www.OpenGov.com.

About OpenGov
OpenGov is the leader in modern cloud software for cities, counties, state agencies, and special districts. With a mission to power a more effective and accountable government, OpenGov serves more than 1,900 public sector leaders and their organizations. OpenGov is built exclusively for the unique budgeting and planning, accounting, permitting and licensing, procurement, asset management, and tax and revenue needs of the public sector. The OpenGov Cloud empowers organizations to operate more efficiently, adapt to change, and strengthen trust with the communities they serve. Learn more or request a demo at opengov.com.

SOURCE OpenGov, Inc.