History and Development
The
Digital Bristol project (originally known as Digital City Bristol)
was initiated by Hewlett-Packard Research Labs and developed with
help from Bristol City Council and the University of the West
of England.
Digital
City Bristol was launched in March 1997 as a pilot project. During
this phase of development the management committee was made up
of representatives from Bristol City Council, the University of
the West of England, and Hewlett-Packard Research Labs. The management
committee then expanded to include City NetGates Ltd and Western
Media Publishing Ltd.
Over the years, shifting priorities have meant that first Western Media Publishing, and then the University of the West of England have left the management committee.
BBC Bristol Online join as site partners (June 2001) bringing with them the experience
of producing a community-driven website for the city.
An
advisory committee which represents a range of city-wide community,
business and training organisations exists to gain valuable grassroots
feedback and advice.
Extension
of the ownership and changes to management arrangements are by
agreement of the management committee.
Based
on the experiences of the pilot project phase, the project began
a two phase programme of development:
Phase
1:
Establishment of the World Wide Web site with a new graphical
interface and a dynamic, database-led infrastructure.
Phase
2:
The
introduction of more interactive elements to the website, to include virtual meeting and communication areas, multi-media
and interactive spaces and dynamic news feeds.
Following the launch of a thoroughly redesigned website interface, incorporating leading-edge functionality (June 2001), we are currently firmly in Phase 2.
Renaming:
In November 2000 the new, shorter and simpler name "Digital Bristol"
replaced the original Digital City Bristol. The "City" was dropped
for a combination of reasons, not least of which was recognition
that the locality is now nationally known not merely as the city
but the County of Bristol.
