UNICEF: Lessons learned from our digital transformation six years in

UNICEF works in the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere. UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories; however, our federated structure is decentralized, with capabilities and resources varying widely across countries.

In 2015, UNICEF recognized that our web properties were not keeping pace with digital adoption around the globe. Our technology was restrictive and inefficient. We were not engaging supporters online in the ways they had come to expect. Our supporter base was not growing and revenue was stunted. Country offices were setting up competing sites. Our digital presence was fragmenting.

So UNICEF embarked on a Digital Transformation Project to envision a new web platform, working with Blue State to develop the plan and build consensus among our stakeholders to move it forward. Ultimately, UNICEF selected Drupal as our technology foundation, and in 2020 we completed the migration of 175+ websites to Drupal – in addition to creating new innovative web applications on the platform.

Six years into our digital transformation roadmap, we can now reflect on how the process played out and highlight lessons learned for organizations on similar journeys.

We’ll discuss:
What to include in the transformation plan
The particular importance of content strategy
Best practices for governance
Leveraging Drupal to scale enterprise applications
Forging consensus among business owners