Background

The Municipality of Vidin is committed to be in line with modern communications and to utilize the opportunities offered by Internet. The municipal team is convinced that Internet is the media of the future. The Municipality is aimed at developing the capacity to provide quality services through this fast developing and dynamic information tool.

Practice

A web-site of the Municipality of Vidin was developed and has already been visited by many users. Visits are registered by Extreme Tracing. The site has a pretty home page that creates the impression of a live show. There is a link to Danube Bridge 2: Vidin Kalafat , where visitors can find background information on the project and news related to its implementation. This link is one of the most visited sections.

The site is targeted mainly at Vidin citizens who live abroad and to people who have never visited the city but would like to learn more about it. For this reason, the site contains information about the city's history, culture and landmarks in both Bulgarian and English and a lot of photos and reference materials.

The municipal team is convinced that the concept must be developed further, as there is hardly a citizen who has not used Internet. The desire is to offer current information that would be of interest to the city s residents.

The first step has already been made. A new section for employment leads was added, as well as a phone directory, albeit incomplete.

Now, the site allows anyone, regardless of where they are located, to write the mayor even if they don t have their own email address. Scores of users have already taken advantage of the municipal electronic mailbox service. The email address of Vidin s mayor, Mr. Ivan Tsenov, is [email protected].

A new section entitled Vidin Digest is under development. It is aimed at meeting citizens needs of up-to-date information. To complete this project, it is necessary to install software that allows everyday news updates. Initially, the information will be updated weekly; at a later stage, the updates will be daily.

A good opportunity to attract potential investors would be to publish the municipal investment plan online, as well as a list of sites that will be privatized and the territorial development plan. The Municipality is currently developing a Vidin Investment Guide. When the document is ready, it will be published both as a hard copy and online.

The www.vidin.com authors intend to publish a list of all municipal services, as well as explanations of required procedures and documents.

The team is committed to develop a multimedia presentation of Vidin as soon as possible. However, as no funds have been allocated for this purpose in the municipal budget, the Municipality is having some difficulties in purchasing the necessary software and employing experts. The team believes that a favorable solution will be found soon and the site will feature not only text, photos and graphics but also sound, video and animation.

The Municipality of Vidin s web site will be developed and updated constantly. The team developing the site is open to any ideas and proposals for cooperation. Visitors can log their comments in the Guestbook.

Results

Municipality of Vidin s web-site was developed and is attracting a lot of visitors. A long-term concept of site development was created. The concept calls for enriching the site with quality services for citizens, useful information for potential investors and multimedia presentations.