Our content strategy – why we’re here, and what we want to do

In January 2019, we – the data.govt.nz team – published the content strategy and style guide for data.govt.nz. The content strategy lays out how we plan to create and sustain good content for the non-catalogue parts of the website, and the style guide explains how we write.

This blog post contains some of the most important parts of our content strategy.

data.govt.nz content strategy

data.govt. style guide

Both are living documents, and we welcome your feedback.

Our vision for data.govt.nz

We want data.govt.nz to be the starting place for data conversations in NZ.

A place that brings together datasets and related information to help people improve how they manage and use data. We also want it to generate excitement and value about the possibilities of data as a tool for empowerment, growth, and decision-making.

Like digital.govt.nz and govt.nz, data.govt.nz is an all-of-government website, working across government as a whole rather than representing any particular agency.

digital.govt.nz

govt.nz

Our values

• Practical and pragmatic.
• Informative and enabling.
• Welcoming and approachable.
• All-of-government.
• Impartial and neutral.
• Honest and open.
• Trustworthy and reliable.
• Collaborative.
• Connected, working across not down.

Our goals

• Become the starting point for data resources, and build an enabling and empowering community around data.
• Lead by facilitating and through influencing.
• Grow data capability and educate the data community on best practices.
• Demonstrate commitment to helping by providing links to government-held data and helping users get the best from it (accessing it, using it, analysing it, etc).
• Provide a connected experience between government – and other – agencies and people involved in the data system.
• Enable two-way conversations so that people feel they can ask a question, request data, ask for help, etc, knowing that data.govt.nz will engage with them.

Our tone of voice

Our content will be human. This includes, but isn’t limited to, being:

• friendly and approachable
• plain language
• authentic
• informal
• encouraging
• confident
• helpful
• warm and engaging
• respectful.

Content strategy principles

To implement this strategy and achieve our vision, all content will:

• have a clear purpose and meet a valid user need or business goal
• conform with the site values, tone and voice, and style guide to ensure consistency, credibility, and accessibility.
• be checked appropriately prior to publishing to ensure accuracy and consistency
• make it easy for users to engage with us
• have named and engaged content owners
• be actively managed to ensure it remains relevant and useful.

We explain each of these principles in the content strategy.

data.govt.nz content strategy

Let us know what you think

We’d love your feedback on both the content strategy and style guide. Are they fit for purpose and if so, why (or why not)? Have we left anything important out? Should we remove anything? Do the documents make sense?

You can get in touch with us by:

• emailing us at opendata@stats.govt.nz
• tweeting us at @opendatanz.

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