Vision moves to fill Uganda's digital space
Sep 26, 2011
New Vision and Bukedde will have new state-of the art websites beginning October 3 this year. The redesign of the two sites marks the completion of the first phase of a year-long plan to digitize Vision Group operations.
By Conan Businge and Stephen Ssenkaaba
New Vision and Bukedde will have new state-of the art websites beginning October 3 this year. The redesign of the two sites marks the completion of the first phase of a year-long plan to digitize Vision Group operations.
Louis Jadwong, Vision Group’s Head of Digital said the redesign is part of the company’s sustained strategy to provide innovative and better services to the public.
"We are finally implementing what has been on the drawing board for nearly five years. The automation of all our operations was long overdue, and I am positive we will get an increase in productivity and
finally be able to gauge and monitor performance better," he said.
The new websites will have a new navigation structure and their capabilities will be enhanced to better serve their respective audiences locally and in the Diaspora. The sites will also have versions for all mobile devices.
The website www.newvision.co.ug will evolve into a key port for breaking news on Uganda.
One key addition of the redesigned digitial platform will be the E-paper, a replica of The New Vision newspaper that will be available on subscription, while clips from the popular Bukedde TV and Urban will be available online free of charge. The site will also have a rich archive for researchers, with digital copies of the newspaper from the year 2006.
Paul Ikanza, the Head of IT at Vision Group, said the investment in new software will help set new trends online.
“I believe the new design will not only make for more convenient reading, it will also provide the news a lot more easily and instantly,†he remarked.
â€From an infrastructure point of view, we have used the latest available technology to ensure redundancy and availability.
That is, we have implemented 100% virtualisation of all the systems.
What this means is that they are hardware independent and minimally susceptible to extended downtime. We are also able to provision services very promptly when there is need for expansion.â€
He added: “We, for example haven't had a mobile site and have only just recently integrated facebook and twitter updates but still, these are not being optimally used.â€
Content on the new sites will remain largely free but the newspaper, the archives and the e-paper will be accessed through registration and subscription. The subscription rates and payment methods will be announced in the Business Vision pull-out on Thursday, September 29
Uganda’s leading website www.newvision.co.ug has 21,000 fans, up from 1,000 in November last year while bukedde.co.ug has grown to 1,600 fans in the last few months.
This is the first redesign of the website since it was launched in 1999. It has grown into the country’s most visited site by Ugandans here and abroad after Facebook, Google and Yahoo.
According to August figures of Google analysts, the site had 1.5 million visits (48,000 daily), 5.6m page views and 397,000 unique visitors last month.
Sam Apedel, the former head of Vision Group’s websites, said the new websites would provide richer content and further spur Vision Group to greater heights in the media industry.
“In the pioneering days, the digital department simply concentrated on giving an online presence to our print products. As such, our flagship website www.newvision.co.ug was simply an online version of our newspaper.â€
“As digital technology improved the website visitors became more sophisticated, a new product became a necessity.â€
Susan Nsibirwa, Vision Group’s head of marketing, said the new design was part of the company’s commitment to be a market leader.
“We set out to achieve excellent global standards in whatever we do at Vision Group. This website puts us at par with leading global players in the media industry,†Nsibirwa said.
Bukedde’s editor Andrew Kaggwa said the new website would be extraordinary and unique.
Apart from having short videos and audio news clips, the website will carry clips of the ‘Agataliko Nfuufu’ news bulletins from Bukedde TV.
“We plan to use several pictures of our uploaded news on the website,†Kaggwa explained.
Leading Vision Group writers Paul Busharizi (economics, business), Charles Wendo (health), David Mukholi (politics), Kalungi Kabuye (entertainment) and Joseph Batte (music) will give regular insights online.
Vision Group partnered in April on this project with Indian IT Company, Four C Plus (Internet) Company Limited, whose team has now started installing the software. They will start with the online overhaul, followed by installation of the editorial and advertising systems. Finally, all systems will be integrated with the HR, Printing and circulation systems.
New Vision and Bukedde will have new state-of the art websites beginning October 3 this year. The redesign of the two sites marks the completion of the first phase of a year-long plan to digitize Vision Group operations.
Louis Jadwong, Vision Group’s Head of Digital said the redesign is part of the company’s sustained strategy to provide innovative and better services to the public.
"We are finally implementing what has been on the drawing board for nearly five years. The automation of all our operations was long overdue, and I am positive we will get an increase in productivity and
finally be able to gauge and monitor performance better," he said.
The new websites will have a new navigation structure and their capabilities will be enhanced to better serve their respective audiences locally and in the Diaspora. The sites will also have versions for all mobile devices.
The website www.newvision.co.ug will evolve into a key port for breaking news on Uganda.
One key addition of the redesigned digitial platform will be the E-paper, a replica of The New Vision newspaper that will be available on subscription, while clips from the popular Bukedde TV and Urban will be available online free of charge. The site will also have a rich archive for researchers, with digital copies of the newspaper from the year 2006.
Paul Ikanza, the Head of IT at Vision Group, said the investment in new software will help set new trends online.
“I believe the new design will not only make for more convenient reading, it will also provide the news a lot more easily and instantly,†he remarked.
â€From an infrastructure point of view, we have used the latest available technology to ensure redundancy and availability.
That is, we have implemented 100% virtualisation of all the systems.
What this means is that they are hardware independent and minimally susceptible to extended downtime. We are also able to provision services very promptly when there is need for expansion.â€
He added: “We, for example haven't had a mobile site and have only just recently integrated facebook and twitter updates but still, these are not being optimally used.â€
Content on the new sites will remain largely free but the newspaper, the archives and the e-paper will be accessed through registration and subscription. The subscription rates and payment methods will be announced in the Business Vision pull-out on Thursday, September 29
Uganda’s leading website www.newvision.co.ug has 21,000 fans, up from 1,000 in November last year while bukedde.co.ug has grown to 1,600 fans in the last few months.
This is the first redesign of the website since it was launched in 1999. It has grown into the country’s most visited site by Ugandans here and abroad after Facebook, Google and Yahoo.
According to August figures of Google analysts, the site had 1.5 million visits (48,000 daily), 5.6m page views and 397,000 unique visitors last month.
Sam Apedel, the former head of Vision Group’s websites, said the new websites would provide richer content and further spur Vision Group to greater heights in the media industry.
“In the pioneering days, the digital department simply concentrated on giving an online presence to our print products. As such, our flagship website www.newvision.co.ug was simply an online version of our newspaper.â€
“As digital technology improved the website visitors became more sophisticated, a new product became a necessity.â€
Susan Nsibirwa, Vision Group’s head of marketing, said the new design was part of the company’s commitment to be a market leader.
“We set out to achieve excellent global standards in whatever we do at Vision Group. This website puts us at par with leading global players in the media industry,†Nsibirwa said.
Bukedde’s editor Andrew Kaggwa said the new website would be extraordinary and unique.
Apart from having short videos and audio news clips, the website will carry clips of the ‘Agataliko Nfuufu’ news bulletins from Bukedde TV.
“We plan to use several pictures of our uploaded news on the website,†Kaggwa explained.
Leading Vision Group writers Paul Busharizi (economics, business), Charles Wendo (health), David Mukholi (politics), Kalungi Kabuye (entertainment) and Joseph Batte (music) will give regular insights online.
Vision Group partnered in April on this project with Indian IT Company, Four C Plus (Internet) Company Limited, whose team has now started installing the software. They will start with the online overhaul, followed by installation of the editorial and advertising systems. Finally, all systems will be integrated with the HR, Printing and circulation systems.