Economy Minister Edwina Hart described the new Wales Yearbook Online as an important ‘new national digital institution’ when she launched the e-version this week.
The past 25 years have seen annual editions of the 850 page Wales Yearbook, the authoritative reference guide to public life in Wales. It is published by FBA, an integrated bilingual marketing communications agency in Aberystwyth.
Speaking at the launch event in Cardiff, the Minister said: “The Wales Yearbook is valued as a key resource and makes an important contribution to promoting and understanding democracy in Wales at all levels.
“Taking the Yearbook online will be invaluable and essentially creates a new national digital institution for Wales. Accessing information online is now the norm for most people, and I hope that making the Yearbook a digital product will help promote greater understanding of government and public life in Wales. It will assist businesses and a wide range of private and public organisations to communicate and engage better.
“I am pleased the Welsh Government’s Digital Development Fund grant helped FBA take the Wales Yearbook onto digital platforms, creating a modern digital product that is searchable, always up-to-date and accessible from anywhere in the world. The Wales Yearbook Online also has potential to develop key new digital-based services using its powerful databases.”
The Welsh Government’s Digital Development Fund has proved very successful in facilitating the development of new digital products and services in Wales and provided £50k towards the technical build of the new platform. The development by FBA represents an investment of over £200k.
Dr Denis Balsom, founding editor of the Wales Yearbook said, “This is an exciting phase in the development of the Wales Yearbook. The online format allows for infinite content and granularity and is therefore far more comprehensive than the printed version.
“The interactive maps allow searches down to community council and ward level with all levels of government are covered in detail. It includes links to thousands of organisations with extensive profiles of all elected and a wide range of non- elected appointees on boards and committees. These will continue to build over time to offer an effective ‘Who’s Who’ of Wales for users engaged in public life and business.”
The Wales Yearbook Online homepage is a free one-stop-shop portal for Wales bringing together news from all over Wales, including local newspapers, political tweets and blogs plus direct links to Senedd and Parliament TV and Wales’s media.