The new webpage is mobile adapted and has a more up-to-date design than the previous page. In other words, it is meant to function just as well on a mobile phone as on a laptop. As you will also have noticed, the new webpage has more photos than the previous page.

- We are pleased with our new webpage, which allows news from our institute to be accessed on both mobiles and tablets. I hope everyone will find what they are searching for on our page, says the institute’s Director, Merete Lunde.

Projects, persons and publications

Communicating the results of our research to others is one of our key activities. Hence, it is of great significance that we succeed in presenting projects, persons and publications in an orderly manner. Moreover, the links between these three content types also need to be correct, so that you, as a visitor to the webpage, may easily find what is relevant for you.

– The supplier we selected for developing the new webpage has developed webpages for enterprises that have a lot in common with our institute. This may be why they instantly got our point about the core information relating to projects, persons and publications, says Svein Ølnes, who has supervised the process of getting a new webpage in place.

Foreign visitors

Before initiating the process of getting the new web page in place, we asked visitors to the website for their professional background. The majority stated that they worked for an academic institution, followed by the public sector, private enterprises and the media.

Interestingly, nearly one fifth of the visitors to the webpage were based outside of Norway.

– This reflects the fact that we are engaged in a high number of international research projects and that many of us have professional networks outside of Norway, says Svein Ølnes.

Open-source software

The technical solution that forms the basis for the new web site is Drupal, a type of open-source software which is also used on several portals by one of the institute’s long-standing regional R&D partners, the state agency Difi based in the neighbouring town of Leikanger.

– Drupal is fully open-source, explains Guttorm Flatabø, a member of the Technology and Society research team. In other words, the web site is free from ‘closed components’ or software that only paying customers may access and use. In selecting a web page supplier, the institute emphasised its open-source preference as a matter of principle.

– We are generally positive to open-source solutions because we support openness and free publishing. This is a natural attitude for a research institute such as ours, says Svein Ølnes.

Send us your feedback

As our page is brand new, we would appreciate any suggestions and feedback you have that will help us improve it. If you come across something that needs adjusting, please let us know.