New Bamboo to build interactive website to encourage and support young people to read and to be creative.

May 13, 2008 (XTVWorld.Com) -- The Reading Agency, an independent charity which inspires young people to read more has appointed New Bamboo, the specialist in bespoke software development using Ruby on Rails, to create an online young people's website to encourage reading and creativity. The contract value was not disclosed.

The new site, yet to be named, will invite young people aged 13-18 years old to showcase their own creativity, create their own groups, display what's on their virtual shelves and rate titles; and also gain access to valuable resources such as advice from expert writers, artists and lyricists. It is scheduled to officially launch in late September 2008.

Ruth Harrison, Senior Project Manager, at the Reading Agency says, "We selected New Bamboo as they had a track record of creating innovative sites. The company also uses Agile methodology which is particularly suited for our complex project and is based around setting objective metrics, stake holder involvement, feedback and managed processes. We have ambitious plans with a fairly tight budget and timeframe – so getting things right first time is crucial".

The site will offer a mix of information and live interaction and a range of exciting opportunities to engage with young people who share their passion for reading and creativity:
• Young people can start up their own groups for reviewing, rating, chatting and debating
• Showcase their own creativity such as Manga art, short stories, scripts and poems
• Upload images, pod casts or video casts
• Take part in competitions and polls
• Receive advice from expert writers, lyricists, poets, artists, script writers
• Find out about jobs in the creative industries
• Discover what's going on – such as up-coming titles, events and festivals

Max Williams, Co-Founder of New Bamboo says, "We were attracted to the project as the requirements suited our expertise. The Reading Agency has a number of complex requirements in allowing end users and social groups to easily interact. There was a strong focus on social networking and rich media which are areas where we have successfully delivered solutions in the past. Additionally, we will be developing the site iteratively to get valuable feedback and make sure it lives up to expectations. "

Williams concludes, "Ruby on Rails makes a particularly compelling proposition for organisations when combined with Agile processes: where Ruby on Rails makes development very fast, Agile makes it very flexible."