Online Estimate

Digital Public Services Portal Built with Strapi

Plavno developed a self-hosted digital public services portal for a regional government to unify service information, news, regulations, office directories, and online form workflows in one secure platform.

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Overview

Key Metrics & Impact

The client was a regional government launching a unified public services portal. The platform needed to include a service directory, public news, regulations, office information, and online application forms, while meeting strict requirements for open-source technology, self-hosted deployment, and high security standards.

  • The portal supports digital access for up to 2 million citizens

  • More than 500 service pages can be updated independently by non-technical editors

  • Better operational control over public content, forms, and service information

  • Stronger resilience under high traffic through static page generation

  • Full data ownership and infrastructure control remained on the client side

Solutions
Challenges
Use Cases
<span>Key Metrics</span> & Impact
01

Problem

The regional government needed a single digital access point for citizens, but public information and service workflows were fragmented across departments and outdated systems.

Common challenges included:


  • Service information spread across multiple government units

  • Difficult access to regulations, service descriptions, and office contacts

  • Poor usability for citizens trying to find the right service

  • Dependence on technical teams for routine content updates

  • Strict infrastructure and data sovereignty requirements that ruled out many SaaS platforms


For public institutions, these limitations affect both service quality and trust in digital delivery.

Problem
02

Challenge

The new platform needed to:


  • Centralize services, news, regulations, FAQs, and office information in one structured system

  • Support hierarchical government content structures

  • Provide secure online form submission workflows

  • Support two official languages

  • Remain stable under high public traffic

  • Run on infrastructure fully controlled by the client


There were also important constraints:


  • The platform had to be open-source and self-hosted

  • Data could not be stored in third-party cloud environments

  • Citizen-facing forms had to store data securely and trigger internal notifications

  • Editors without technical skills needed to maintain large volumes of public service pages

Challenge

Solution

Digital Government Services on a Self-Hosted Foundation

Leveraging Strapi as a self-hosted headless CMS with structured collections, a custom plugin for secure online application forms, bilingual content management through i18n, and a Next.js frontend powered by static site generation — all integrated with government authentication to create a unified, scalable public services platform.

Product Highlights

    • Self-hosted public services portal

    • Collections for services, news, regulations, FAQs, and offices

    • Hierarchical content structure from ministry to department to service

    • Custom plugin for secure citizen application forms

    • Bilingual content workflows with Strapi i18n

    • High-performance Next.js frontend with statically generated pages

    • Government authentication integration via a custom auth provider

User Flows

    • Browse Public Services: Citizens search or navigate through service pages, regulations, FAQs, and office information.

    • Submit Online Requests: Users fill out online forms, and the submitted data is stored in a protected database.

    • Route Internal Notifications: Relevant government staff receive notifications when new form submissions require review.

    • Update Public Content: Editors manage service pages, public information, and bilingual updates through the Strapi admin panel.

Experience & Scalability

    • Supports service access for up to 2 million citizens

    • Handles more than 10,000 statically generated pages

    • Suitable for bilingual public sector content operations

    • Enables non-technical editorial teams to update service content independently

    • Designed for self-hosted, security-conscious public infrastructure

Architecture Overview

Deep Dive: Project Architecture

  • Content Collections Layer: Collections were created for services, news, regulations, FAQs, and offices, with a hierarchical structure reflecting ministry → department → service relationships.

  • Form Workflow Layer: A custom plugin allowed citizens to submit applications, store the data in a protected database, and trigger notifications for internal staff.

  • Localization Layer: Strapi i18n supported parallel editorial workflows in two official languages.

  • Frontend Delivery Layer: A Next.js frontend used static site generation to pre-build more than 10,000 pages and ensure strong performance under heavy traffic.

  • Authentication Layer: A custom auth provider integrated the portal with the government identity system.

  • Infrastructure Layer: The platform was deployed in a self-hosted on-premise environment with PostgreSQL, giving the client full control over data and hosting.

Deep Dive: <span>Project Architecture</span>

Value

Quality & Fidelity

Delivering structured public information, bilingual content operations, and secure digital service workflows

Strong Content Structure

Strong Content Structure

The platform organizes public service information in a clear hierarchy that reflects how government services are actually delivered.

Service directory
Structured content
Public sector CMS
MVP
MVP
Better Editorial Independence

Better Editorial Independence

Editors can update service pages and public information without technical intervention.

Editor autonomy
Service pages
Public content ops
MVP
MVP
Bilingual Content Management

Bilingual Content Management

The portal supports parallel content maintenance across two official languages.

Strapi i18n
Bilingual publishing
Localization
MVP
MVP
Secure Digital Service Workflows

Secure Digital Service Workflows

Online forms and related notifications are handled through controlled backend processes.

Secure forms
Protected data
Workflow automation
MVP
MVP

Benchmarks

Scale & Reliability

Built to support large public audiences, secure self-hosted deployment, and high-volume service access

Large-Scale Citizen Access

Large-Scale Citizen Access

The portal is designed to serve up to 2 million citizens.

Public scale
Citizen services
High traffic
Stable Static Delivery

Stable Static Delivery

More than 10,000 statically generated pages help keep the portal responsive under heavy load.

SSG
Next.js
Performance
Self-Hosted Infrastructure Control

Self-Hosted Infrastructure Control

The platform runs on infrastructure fully controlled by the client.

On-premise
Self-hosted
Data ownership
Sustainable Editorial Operations

Sustainable Editorial Operations

More than 500 service pages can be maintained by non-technical editors without developer dependency.

Editor workflows
Content scale
Independence

Data Protection

Security & Compliance

Enterprise-grade protection for citizen data, public content workflows, and government-controlled infrastructure

Self-Hosted Data Ownership

Self-Hosted Data Ownership

All content and citizen-submitted data remain on the client’s own infrastructure.

Secure Form Submission Workflows

Secure Form Submission Workflows

Citizen applications are stored in a protected database with controlled internal notification logic.

Government Authentication Integration

Government Authentication Integration

The platform supports secure access through a custom integration with the government identity system.

Innovative Experience

Industries & Use Cases

Strapi development for secure public portals, citizen services, and self-hosted government platforms

Regional Government Portals

Regional Government Portals

Centralize public services, regulations, and citizen-facing information in one platform.

Public Information Portals

Public Information Portals

Manage public news, FAQs, and institutional content through structured editorial workflows.

Citizen Services Platforms

Citizen Services Platforms

Support online service access, application forms, and office guidance.

Self-Hosted Public Sector Platforms

Self-Hosted Public Sector Platforms

Enable organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements to keep full infrastructure control.

Delivery Crew

Project Team

High-performing developers for growing companies

Eugene Katovich

Eugene Katovich

Sales Manager

Need a secure self-hosted public services portal?

Plavno builds Strapi-based digital service platforms for governments and public institutions that need structured content, secure forms, bilingual workflows, and full control over their data.

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Competitive Ability

Key Performance Flow

Demonstrating how Plavno transformed fragmented public information into a secure, scalable digital services portal

From service publishing to citizen form submission, everything happens through one self-hosted headless platform flow.

01

Structure Public Service Content

Model services, departments, offices, regulations, and FAQs in a hierarchical content architecture.

02

Manage Bilingual Publishing

Editors maintain content in two official languages through parallel editorial workflows.

03

Deliver Fast Public Access

Publish more than 10,000 statically generated pages through a high-performance Next.js frontend.

04

Handle Online Service Requests

Capture citizen form submissions securely and notify the appropriate government staff.

Delivery & Automation

Delivery & Automation

    • Hierarchical Content Modeling: Structured collections for services, news, regulations, FAQs, and offices to reflect actual government hierarchies (Ministry → Department → Service).

    • Editorial Independence: Empowers non-technical editors to manage over 500 service pages without developer intervention.

    • Secure Form Automation: Custom plugin captures citizen applications, stores data in a protected database, and automatically triggers internal staff notifications.

    • Bilingual Workflows: Parallel editorial workflows using Strapi i18n to manage content in two official languages simultaneously.

Throughput & Scale

Throughput & Scale

    • Static Site Generation (SSG): Next.js frontend pre-builds more than 10,000 pages to ensure resilience under heavy public traffic.

    • High-Volume Citizen Access: Architecture designed to support digital service access for up to 2 million citizens.

    • Self-Hosted Infrastructure: Full data ownership and infrastructure control maintained on-premise (PostgreSQL), meeting strict data sovereignty requirements.

    • Open-Source Foundation: Built on Strapi to avoid vendor lock-in and ensure transparency for public sector operations.

AI Intelligence & Quality Stack

AI Intelligence & Quality Stack

    • Government Authentication Integration: Custom auth provider connects the portal securely with the existing government identity system.

    • Unified Service Directory: Centralized platform eliminates fragmented information, improving usability for citizens searching for regulations and office contacts.

    • Protected Data Handling: Secure form submission workflows ensure citizen data is stored safely, enhancing trust in digital delivery.

    • Structured Content Quality: Hierarchical organization ensures consistent, high-fidelity presentation of complex public service information.

Results

Measurable outcomes delivered by a self-hosted Strapi public services portal

Full Client-Side Data Control

Full Client-Side Data Control

All infrastructure and data remain under the client’s control in a self-hosted environment.

Better Public Service Access

Better Public Service Access

Citizens can find service information, regulations, and office details more easily in one place.

Faster Internal Content Operations

Faster Internal Content Operations

Editors can manage more than 500 service pages independently without relying on technical teams.

Improved Platform Resilience

Improved Platform Resilience

Static generation helps the portal remain responsive even during high-traffic periods.

Stronger Public Sector Fit

Stronger Public Sector Fit

The portal meets requirements for open-source software, self-hosted deployment, and controlled data handling.

Tools We Used

Technology stack

CMS Core

CMS Core

Strapi
Collections
i18n
Frontend

Frontend

Next.js
Static site generation
Headless frontend
Data Layer

Data Layer

PostgreSQL
Protected database
Structured records
Infrastructure

Infrastructure

Self-hosted
On-premise deployment
Secure infrastructure
Forms & Authentication

Forms & Authentication

Custom form plugin
Custom auth provider
Government login integration

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Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answers

Find answers to your common concerns

Why was Strapi chosen for this project?

Strapi is open-source, self-hosted, and well suited to environments where the client needs full control over infrastructure and data.

Could the client keep all data on its own servers?

Yes. The platform was deployed in a self-hosted on-premise setup, so all data stayed on the client side.

Did the portal support multiple languages?

Yes. Strapi i18n was used to manage content in two official languages.

How were citizen forms handled?

A custom plugin captured applications, stored them in a protected database, and triggered notifications for the responsible government staff.

About Plavno

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Plavno's codes and designs are user-friendly, and they complete all deliverables within the deadline. They are easy to work with and easily adapt to existing workflows, and the client values their professionalism and expertise. Overall, the team has delivered everything that was promised.
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Head of Growth, Codabrasoft LLC

Helen Lonskaya

“The app was delivered on time without any serious issues.”

The MVP app developed by Plavno is excellent and has all the functionality required. Plavno has delivered on time and ensured a successful execution via regular updates and fast problem-solving. The client is so satisfied with Plavno's work that they'll work with them on developing the full app.
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