The client: COMHAFAT
COMHAFAT is an intergovernmental organisation bringing together 22 African countries along the Atlantic coast. It supports regional fisheries cooperation and the sustainable management of marine resources.
To support its work on national legal frameworks, it needed a compendium bringing together the regulations of its member states in a readily accessible format.
The challenge: making a regulatory collection easier to use
National texts needed to be organised within a common structure so they could be explored by country and topic. The challenge was to turn a varied collection of documents into practical resources for analysing and comparing regulatory frameworks.
The project combined two areas of expertise: the legal knowledge required to interpret the texts and the information engineering needed to organise them and make them accessible.
Bringing subject expertise and web engineering together
The project brought together Eric Mostert of SKREO Consulting, Bertrand Cazalet of MAREPOLIS, and Stefano Piredda, founder of Naes Consulting.
The subject specialists handled legal research and interviews. Naes took part in joint discussions and was responsible for structuring the compendium, processing the documents and producing the digital tools.
This collaboration translated analysis and consultation needs into a practical document structure and working deliverables.
The delivery: an interactive compendium and a Drupal prototype
Organising documents within a common structure
Naes defined the compendium’s structure and organised its documents for consultation by country and topic. This work provided the foundation for the different formats delivered.
The aim was to make the texts easier to access while retaining the context needed to understand and compare them.
Producing interactive Excel and PDF files
The compendium was delivered as interactive Excel and PDF files. Both formats bring the regulatory collection together within a common structure, with navigation suited to each format.
These files allow the material to be consulted and shared without requiring a deployed web platform.
Developing a working web prototype
Naes also developed a Drupal prototype incorporating the compendium’s content, with search and filtering features.
The prototype provided a practical demonstration of online access to the collection and explored the potential of a future document platform.
The outcome: usable deliverables and a foundation for further development
The assignment resulted in the delivery of the Excel and PDF compendium and a working Drupal prototype. It demonstrates Naes’ ability to structure specialist content and turn it into tools suited to different uses.
The assignment concluded with delivery. Further development and maintenance required a separate tender, which was not launched.