Our July 2020 release of OpenCities is focused on security updates and beta testing several exciting new features. Security updates will be rolled out to all clients, but Eventbrite and document uploads will be tested on selected sites in preparation for a full release later in the year.
Introducing the Eventbrite module
We're experimenting with an Eventbrite integration module with some clients. We're hoping that clients can use this module to automatically import Eventbrite events into OpenCities, increasing the discoverability of their events and cutting down on content duplication. If you're interested in trialing this module, get in touch and we'll activate it for you.
Speeding up document uploads
We’re experimenting with moving the document indexing component of our search technology to a new standalone environment within our secure, built-for-government cloud. This allows us to scale up and down as needed with no impact to your end-users or administrators, speeding up your admin interface.
Incrementally improving security and performance with new and enhanced services
In response to the latest global technology security threats and to serve more users during peak events as well as to provide a generally more responsive resident experience, we are making some changes to our infrastructure.
We are utilising a new generation cloud based web application firewall (WAF), bot detection and blocking framework and a content delivery network (CDN). These services will sit in front of our Microsoft Azure Gov hosting data centers and result in:
- Faster loading pages
- Ability to transparently handle high traffic events
- Blocking of spammers, scrapers, and other bad bots
- Protecting your website from even the largest DDoS attacks
- Rapidly address emerging global cyber threats