LocalGov Drupal with AI
Explore an AI-enhanced content management system for UK councils - the most comprehensive AWS and AI experience on NDX:Try
Overview
7 AI features • 8 AWS services • 40-minute guided walkthrough • Built for local government
Learning Artifact: This is a pre-deployed demonstration environment for learning and exploration, not a production-ready product.
LocalGov Drupal with AI showcases how UK councils can transform their content management with seven AI-powered capabilities, all running on robust AWS infrastructure.
What you’ll explore
AI Content Features
Infrastructure
| Component | AWS Service |
|---|---|
| Compute | AWS Fargate |
| Database | Amazon Aurora |
| Storage | Amazon EFS |
| CMS | Drupal 10 |
Getting started
Once you select “Try this now” above, your session environment will begin deploying automatically.
1. Your environment deploys (~40 minutes)
2. Follow the walkthrough to log in and explore
3. The walkthrough guides you through everything
Why This Matters for Local Government
Accessibility at Scale
- Auto alt-text for images using Amazon Rekognition
- Text-to-speech via Amazon Polly for audio access
- PDF conversion with Amazon Textract
- Helps meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements
Multilingual communities
- 75+ languages via Amazon Translate
- Instant translation without manual costs
- Consistent service delivery regardless of language
Content efficiency
- AI drafting powered by Amazon Bedrock
- Plain English conversion for accessible communications
- Reduced time on content creation and review
Digital inclusion
- Multiple AI capabilities ensure services reach everyone
- Practical application of responsible AI
- Demonstrates modern public sector digital services
About LocalGov Drupal
LocalGov Drupal is an open-source CMS built by UK councils, for councils. This NDX:Try scenario enhances it with AWS AI capabilities.
Cost benefits
- Up to 80% cost reduction
- Average £120k reduced to £20k-£60k
- No licensing fees
- No vendor lock-in (GPL-2.0)
Time benefits
- 8-12 week deployment
- vs. traditional 12-month timelines
- Pre-built council content types
- Shared development investment
Standards
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant
- GOV.UK Design System aligned
- Evidence-based design
- Built on Drupal 10
Real council success stories
Waltham Forest council
One of the first councils to join in the beta phase:
- £90,000 saved in development costs
- 3-6 months of development time saved
- 25% improvement in user satisfaction
- 96/100 accessibility score (vs. 87 benchmark)
- 40% faster page load performance
- 10-15% reduction in calls to resolution centre
Cumbria County council
Rapid improvements with limited budget:
- 21% reduction in contact volume
- 25% faster resolution times
- £33,000 annual potential savings
- Achieved in 6 months what they had tried to achieve for 3 years
“LGD is what proper local gov digital collaboration looks like. A single platform where everyone gets the benefits of each other’s investment for free. Solving problems once, together.”
— Neil Williams, Chief Digital Officer at Croydon Council (former head of GOV.UK)
Governance
Since January 2023, LocalGov Drupal has been governed by the Open Digital Cooperative - a not-for-profit multistakeholder cooperative ensuring long-term sustainability and democratic governance by member councils and suppliers.
The platform represents true collaboration: councils share development costs and benefit from each other’s investments. When one council builds a feature, all 56+ councils benefit.
How this was built
This scenario is built with open source infrastructure as code using AWS CDK (Cloud Development Kit) with Docker. You can view the CDK project, Drupal configuration, and Docker setup, and adapt them for your own needs.
View the source code on GitHub (opens in new tab)
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