Digital Consultation Platform for Participatory Policymaking

Core Consultation & Data Model (Service Builder)

SilwaTech implemented a scalable backend using Liferay Service Builder:

• Custom entities for Consultation, Comment, Article, and Discussion Question
• Defined relationships and persistence logic for reuse and scalability
• Generated local and remote service layers consumed across portlets and modules

Commenting & Moderation Module

A structured interaction and moderation framework was delivered:

• Commenting for logged-in users on consultations and discussion questions
• Moderation workflow with admin approval before public visibility
• Bulk approval and deletion actions for administrative efficiency
• Support for nested replies and future extensibility

MVC Portlets & User Experience

Custom MVC portlets were developed to render consultation content:

• Consultation data rendered dynamically from service layers
• Advanced search, keyword filtering, and sorting capabilities
• Flexible UI integration with Liferay’s frontend framework

Secure SSO & National Identity Integration

To address compatibility challenges, a custom SSO approach was implemented:

• Custom UAE Pass login module replacing default OpenID Connect flow
• Overridden authentication logic for better control and reliability
• Custom user creation and synchronization
• Secure token handling and session management

Search & Discovery with Elasticsearch

Search functionality was enhanced using Elasticsearch:

• Indexed consultation entities for full-text search
• Extended indexing to support project-specific fields
• Near real-time search performance for improved browsing and filtering

Notifications & Engagement

• Email and SMS notifications to encourage participation
• Timely updates on consultation availability and engagement

• Secure authentication and identity verification via national SSO
• Moderation workflows to control public content visibility
• Secure handling of consultation data and user feedback
• Controlled access to administrative and moderation functions
• Audit-friendly logging and traceability of interactions
• Alignment with government IT and data protection standards

These measures ensured transparency, trust, and platform integrity.