Custom council information system
Appfront builds a custom council information system that makes all decision-making by your municipal council, provincial states or water board public and searchable. Meetings, agendas, meeting documents, motions, decision lists, votes and livestreams are brought together in one place for councillors, the clerk's office and residents, in line with the Dutch Open Government Act and digital accessibility requirements.
What is a council information system?
A council information system (RIS) is the public digital environment in which an elected body makes its decision-making available. Residents, councillors and the clerk's office find there the meetings of the council and committees, with agendas, meeting papers, council questions, incoming documents, motions and amendments, minutes and voting results. Often this also includes live and on-demand video recordings of the meetings.
We build a custom council information system around your own meeting structure, committees and publication agreements. Off-the-shelf packages often force a council into a fixed way of working, with a search function and look and feel that only partly match the municipal website. With custom software, you decide how documents are organised, made searchable and linked to the meeting they belong to, so the clerk's office no longer has to keep track of things separately.
Because openness is the starting point, we align with the VNG Open Raadsinformatie standard, so council and states information can also be reused as open data. We tailor the structure, search function and accessibility to your actual meeting process, so the council demonstrably meets openness and accessibility requirements and the system can grow with new needs. Also read about our wider software for municipalities.
Meetings made accessible
Every council and committee meeting with its agenda, related documents, minutes and votes in one place. Residents can follow the decision-making from start to finish, including live or on-demand video of the meeting.
Searchable archive
Meeting papers, motions, amendments and decisions become fully searchable, with filters by body, period, topic and document type. Councillors and residents can quickly find what has previously been decided.
Open and accessible
Public by default in line with the Open Government Act, and digitally accessible under WCAG 2.1 AA and DigiToegankelijk. Residents with a disability can also follow the decision-making, with keyboard navigation, screen reader support and sufficient contrast.
How we build your council information system
We work in four clear steps, involving the clerk's office early and resolving uncertainties quickly. From an analysis of your meeting process and publication requirements to go-live and ongoing management, every step is aimed at a RIS that is public, searchable and accessible, and that your team can understand and manage themselves.
We map out your meeting structure, committees and document types, together with the clerk's office's publication and openness agreements, and the integrations you want with archiving or open data.
We design the information structure, search function and accessible layout in your house style, with attention to WCAG 2.1 AA and a logical ordering of meetings and documents.
We build the system with automated tests, logging and monitoring, and set up integrations. You see working versions along the way, so the clerk's office can review early and steer the project.
Controlled go-live with checks on public access and accessibility, followed by ongoing management, security updates and further development based on real-world use.
What a custom RIS delivers in practice
We tailor every council information system to your meeting process, document types and publication requirements. Below are the features we most often deliver for councils, provincial states and water board authorities that want to make their decision-making public and searchable.
Meeting calendar & agendas
A clear calendar of council and committee meetings, each with its agenda, agenda items and related documents. Residents can see at a glance what is being discussed and when, and the clerk's office publishes directly from the meeting process.
Searchable meeting documents
Full-text search across all documents, with filters by committee, period, topic and document type. Councillors and residents can quickly find motions, decisions and council papers, even years later.
Motions, amendments & decisions
Motions, amendments, commitments and decision lists are linked to the meeting and agenda item they belong to, along with their status and outcome. The full decision-making process is traceable from submission to completion.
Livestreaming & on-demand viewing
Live-stream meetings and make them available to watch back, linked to the agenda so viewers can jump straight to the right item. With an accessible viewer and, where wanted, a searchable transcript alongside the recordings.
Votes & results
Publish voting results for each proposal, showing the voting breakdown and how each party voted where this is recorded. Residents can see transparently how the council reached a decision.
Open data & subscriptions
Council information published as open data through the Open Raads- en Stateninformatie API, plus the option for residents to subscribe to topics or meetings. This makes decision-making actively findable and reusable.
The authorities we build a RIS for
Every elected body meets slightly differently. We align terminology, committee structure and voting procedures with your governance model, so the council information system reflects the way you make decisions. We most often see the following variants.
Municipal councils
For municipal councils of all sizes, we make meetings, agendas, meeting documents, motions and decisions publicly available and searchable. Integrates seamlessly with a municipal website and wider software for municipalities.
Provincial states
For provinces we build a provincial states information system offering the same openness: meetings of the provincial states and committees, states documents, motions and decisions, with terminology and voting procedures aligned to the provincial governance model and published as open data.
Water boards
Water boards publish meetings of the general and executive boards, documents and decisions in an accessible, public environment. Can be combined with our broader custom water board software.
Council clerks & board secretariats
The clerk's office publishes from the meeting process, manages the publicity of documents and keeps track of the list of commitments and motions. The public part does not require DigiD; any closed council environment we secure separately with eHerkenning.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
We build the council information system on a modern, maintainable web stack and publish council information as open data via the Open Raads- en Stateninformatie API. Where the meeting process touches on archiving or case-based working, we connect with government standards, such as a ZGW API integration and Digikoppeling for archive and e-depot, and where needed a StUF integration with existing systems. The public part requires no DigiD.
Why choose Appfront for your council information system?
Appfront builds custom software for public sector organisations in the Netherlands. We always start with a thorough analysis of the meeting process and publication requirements. A council information system must not only work technically, but also be practical for the clerk's office, the council and the resident who simply wants to find something.
We write clear documentation so that your own team, or a future supplier, can understand and manage the system. No black box and no lock-in: you get transparent code, open standards and clear agreements on monitoring, security and maintenance.
You work with a dedicated point of contact who understands both the technology and the political and administrative context. This keeps communication direct, prevents misunderstandings and speeds up decisions when choices need to be made during the build about openness, structure or accessibility.
See also our wider custom software, our custom citizen portal and our AI for municipalities and government. Would you like to talk through your situation? Get in touch with no obligation.
- Custom government software, with openness as the starting point
- Experienced with the Open Government Act (Wet open overheid) and proactive disclosure
- Digital accessibility to WCAG 2.1 AA and DigiToegankelijk
- Open data via the Open Council and State Information API
- Integrations with archives, e-depots and case management systems via government standards
- No lock-in: transparent code and open standards belong to you
- Clear documentation your team can read and manage
- A fixed point of contact, no account managers passed around
- Ongoing maintenance, security updates and further development
- A way of working tailored to your meeting process and corporate identity
Security, privacy and accessibility
A council information system is meant to be public, but it also contains personal data and sometimes documents that (temporarily) may not be made public. Appfront builds in line with the Baseline Information Security for Government (BIO) and the OWASP ASVS. This means, among other things: data minimisation, role-based access, a controlled publication route and comprehensive audit logging of what was published and when.
The public part actively makes information findable in line with the Open Government Act, while we process personal data in accordance with the GDPR. We document the data processing so that your record of processing activities is complete. We also build to WCAG 2.1 level AA, so the council can publish an accessibility statement via DigiToegankelijk and residents with a disability can follow decision-making too.
More on our security approach: information security policy and CVD policy.
- BIO-compliant and GDPR-proof, with data minimisation
- Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest
- Role-based access and least-privilege principles
- Controlled publication route for openness
- WCAG 2.1 AA and DigiToegankelijk accessibility statement
- Audit logging of publications and changes
- Monitoring and alerting for anomalies
- Documentation for your record of processing activities
Frequently asked questions about council information systems
Answers to the questions we most often receive about a custom council information system.
A council information system is the public digital environment in which a municipal council, provincial council or water board publishes all of its decision-making. Residents, councillors and the clerk's office can find meetings, agendas, meeting documents, motions and amendments, minutes, voting results and livestreams there. A custom council information system links this information to the clerk's meeting process and makes everything searchable, so that decision-making is traceable and open to the public.
Many councils work with an off-the-shelf package that doesn't match their own way of working, house style or website. We build a custom council information system (RIS) around your meeting structure, committees and publication practices, with search and accessibility you can steer yourself. You are not dependent on a single supplier: the code and documentation belong to you, and the system grows with new requirements around transparency and the reuse of open data.
The Woo obliges public authorities to make administrative information actively and easily findable. A RIS publishes agendas, meeting documents, motions, decision lists and council papers openly, with good search functions and a clear structure. We set up publication so that documents are public by default, with a controlled route for papers that (temporarily) may not be made public. This allows the council to demonstrably meet its transparency obligations.
Yes. Government websites must meet accessibility requirements based on WCAG 2.1 level AA and publish an accessibility statement via DigiToegankelijk. We build the RIS to be accessible: operable by keyboard, readable by screen readers, with sufficient contrast, captioned or searchable video and accessible documents. This means residents with a disability can also follow the decision-making process.
Yes. We can publish the council information system via the VNG Open Council and States Information API, so that council information is reusable as open data for residents, developers and the media. Where needed, we also integrate with your archive or e-depot and case management systems using standards such as Digikoppeling, the ZGW APIs or StUF. The public section does not require DigiD; any closed council environments are secured separately.
Yes. The same principles apply to provincial states and water board authorities: meetings, documents, motions and decisions are published openly and made searchable. We align the terminology, committee structure and voting process with your governance model, so the system matches the way your elected body meets and decides.
After go-live we provide monitoring, security updates and functional management. We document the system so that your own team or another supplier can understand and manage it, with no black box. New requirements, such as additional search filters, a revamped livestream environment or extra open data fields, we develop step by step, based on what the clerk's office and council need in practice.
The investment depends on the functionality you need: the number of council bodies and committees, the depth of the search and filter features, livestream and voting functionality, integrations with archives, open data or case management systems, and the level of ongoing maintenance. After a no-obligation analysis of your meeting process and publication requirements, we will prepare a clear, custom quote.
Ready to get your council information system built?
Tell us how your council or board meets and which documents must be public and searchable. We are happy to think along with you on structure, search, transparency and digital accessibility. In a no-obligation first conversation, you will get a clear picture of what a custom council information system can mean for your clerk's office and residents.