So it was a busy October for the WebsEdge team.  After producing SOLACE TV in Edinburgh for local authority chief executives we were off to Washington DC to produce AMIA TV in healthcare informatics and then to Chicago for IACP TV – the International Association of Police Chiefs.

Each of these organisations is facing radical change. In the UK local authorities have borne the brunt of government spending cuts. More for less has become a popular mantra. 2011 is the pivotal year for health informatics in the US as the Obama health care reforms take centre stage. For the International Association of Police Chiefs the ever evolving threats to national security are the order of the day in law enforcement.

And there lies an interesting paradox. These are complex issues and are becoming ever more so. Lets look at law enforcement for example. Local policemen all round the world are no longer just fighting local crime. The bobby on the beat may be central to community policing but just as important they’re also seen as the front line of attack combating international terrorism.

But these complex issues need broad communications. All the organisations involved not only need to reach large numbers of people – they also need to break these issues down so we can all understand and act on them. We might not be able to untangle the federal budget but we’re all going to need to know what electronic payment records mean to us.

So our job in October has been working with a number of different stakeholders – local authorities, charities, hospitals, police forces etc – to help them use video and specialised video channels to reach their audiences. For example, how can people help transport police in the US stop home grown terrorism in its tracks?

By definition this isn’t easy. But I think we’ve seen real progress. A growing realisation that content needs to be accessible and audiences need to be reached – even if both of those things can be a messy process.

It’s a beautiful day here in Washington D.C. And an exciting one too. Because it’s the start of a packed digital mission organized by Chinwag. And WebsEdge is very proud to be coming along.

It’s quite an agenda. We’re meeting with government bodies at both a local and federal level to find out a little more about what their challenges are. And hopefully what we can do to help.

Now given we have an office here – in beautiful Georgetown – I’ve been thinking a little about government communications on both sides of the ‘pond’. At WebsEdge we’ve worked with about a hundred city governments here in the US – both large and small – and a similar number of local authorities back in England.

On the surface there are quite some differences. Just look at the funding mechanisms. But I’ve really been drawn to the similarities as well. On both sides of the Atlantic local government suffers from an image problem.  And the reality is that it’s getting worse. Whilst people value the services offered they don’t always rate the service provider very highly.

Which is a shame. Because the reality is that towns and cities are providing excellent public services that also provide good value for money. And those are the stories WebsEdge has helped to tell through The Local Government Channel, ICMA tv and now IAFC tv as well.

So we’re all set for a busy week. Lots to learn, new people to meet and, who knows, the odd cold beer along the way!

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@digitalmission

@stephenjhorn

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So it seems the Government now has cold feet over its plans for a national network for local tv – the so called Channel 6. The plan was to have a national channel occupying a prime slot on the various EPGs’ with opt outs for local channels. In this way, or so the argument went, there could be sufficient advertising revenues and the project could be pump primed with £50 million of BBC money.

But despite 50 expressions of interest the word is that the national spine is unlikely to happen. That’s clearly going to disappoint a large number of people but is it really such a bad thing?

The reality is that there is no real business model for a national/local broadcast tv service. There just aren’t the numbers to make advertising work and it’s unlikely that there will be enough compelling content to allow for a subscription model. So yes you can subsidise  it through public funds – however you disguise this – but the business model itself just doesn’t add up.

But does that matter? Surely if this is in the public good then £50 million isn’t such a large amount of money to spend. But to me that’s missing the point. There is real opportunity for local innovation here. Not just in the business model but, far more importantly, in the provision of the tv services themselves. And if you seek to impose the wrong technical and business solution you’ll stifle that innovation.

The democratization of the means of video production and distribution through the internet means everybody can now be a broadcaster. And if you take a look at some of the work now being created you’ll also agree with me that is of an extremely high standard. But most important of all the community is both the broadcaster and the audience. And that means for the first time you get real community engagement without spending money.

When the average American watches the evening news there is precious little international coverage. And you can bet that what there is pays scant regard to the millions of lives affected each year in the world’s poorest countries by disease and malnutrition.

And it’s the same when it comes to newspapers. Throughout the United States thousands of editorial jobs have been lost, budgets cut and revenue restricted which has led to a narrowing of coverage. And this means less room for stories about the world’s poor who after all don’t vote and don’t buy advertising.

And here lies the paradox. Because the United States is also responsible for spending hundreds of millions of dollars on fighting these killer diseases in the developing world. The Government through its various aid projects and wealthy private sector organizations such as the Gates Foundation.

So how do we square this circle? There is clearly both the interest and the money to fight disease but no place for coverage in traditional media. Part of the answer here lies in new technology. Take Global Health TV as an example. The channel tackles many of the issues talked about here and is funded via several initiatives. But even so being a web based channel it suffers from the normal competition driving traffic to its site.

So enter the EdgePlayer. Global Health TV has transformed its reach by putting video players on high profile sites whilst retaining control of the content played on them. Take a look at thelancet.com and globalhealthcouncil.org as examples. And the result is over 100, 000 people each month tuning into coverage on global health. And given the problems we have to deal with that coverage is invaluable.

The internet has grown quickly over its short lifetime. Now, it’s about to see what could be its biggest spurt yet, and it’s all thanks to online video.

Cisco conducted a study that states that by the end of 2008, online video will make up about a third of all consumer internet traffic.  (See study here) It also predicts that by 2012 more than half of all internet traffic will be for online video. Some of this growth can no doubt be attributed to technical advances, such as increased bandwidth and improved streaming technology. A large contributing factor, however, is content.

In its early days, internet video was dominated by entertainment-based videos - think YouTube and its millions of funny and quirky videos. But over the last 12 months internet video has matured, and evolved into new vertical markets. Now, all kinds of organizations are finding innovative uses for online video from the US presidential campaigns, to corporate uses, such as bloggers who give people glances of the inner workings of a company like Microsoft, enhancing training like Deloitte and American Express, product demos and tutorials, and viral campaigns like Blendtec’s famous “Will it blend” series and Hitachi’s recent Tera Era viral video hit.

At WebsEdge we create video campaigns for governments, city communities, and healthcare providers – it’s clearly a far cry from the simple clips and entertainment videos of yore.  It isn’t difficult to see how online video will come to account for such a large percentage of net traffic.  The incredible potential of online video is finally being realized.

If you’ve been reading our blog regularly, you’ll have noticed the recent swell of posts around our trip to Africa to work with The Global Health Council. If you are new to the site, please read the WebsEdge in Africa blog here.

We’ve recently created a video upload facility, From the Field on Global Health TV, an online video site used to help raise awareness of health issues in the developing world.

The concept behind Global Health TV is that online video is the perfect medium to connect those throughout the world who are in a position to help. Although distributing video through mainstream media can reach a massive audience, online distribution reaches a very finely targeted crowd, who are more likely to contribute to the cause.

Mainstream media is also great at telling the big story, but often misses some of the smaller, but equally important stories. One of the benefits of Global Health TV is that we have been able to reach out and capture many stories directly from the communities most affected.

Global Health TV will also benefit the cause because it is a multidirectional form of communication: once videos are uploaded, the community can comment and interact with each other. Utilizing the social aspect of online video will connect dedicated advocates, strengthen the overall support group, and grow the community dedicated to social change.

So go on then don’t be shy! Go on to www.globalhealthtv.com and comment on the work that’s there and share videos with your friends and colleagues. And encourage people working in the field to upload their videos to carry on the conversation.

You’ll be pleased to know that family meltdown was narrowly avoided in our house this weekend. It was the much-awaited launch of the new Doctor Who series. And despite the best of plans we managed to miss the start of the programme. But thanks to the BBC’s iplayer all was not lost and our children won’t have missed any of the gory details.

And they’re not alone. According to the statistics around 500, 000 people are accessing content in this way. There’s other research too. A recent report from the Convergence Consulting Group states that one in ten traditional TV viewers look to the web for video content - and that in a few years one in four will be watching programmes on the web.

But it isn’t all plain sailing is it? At the same time some of the sparkle seems to have gone out of the on-line video business model. Millions of venture capital dollars have gone in but profits are thin on the ground. Recent rumours have it that even market leader Joost is starting to struggle.

So what’s going on? It’s clear that there is a very strong consumer driven demand for on-line video. And people want to watch high quality programming too. But the catch is that they might not be willing to pay for it. So where’s the business model to support on-line video?

Most pundits say it will come through advertising and we just need to wait while this catches up. But I don’t think so. We’re seeing a totally new medium here and it won’t be supported in this way. So we need a new plan.

And I think we’re starting to see it. People will pay for content that actually adds value – take for example the success of programming on the new iphone. And organisations will pay to do the same.

Look at our work with the AAC&U (the Association of American Colleges and Universities), which provides a variety of videos on US higher education.  This type of content would, once upon a time, be reserved for news programmes, or to be shown during conventions and meetings.  But the professionally produced content as online video allows it to be watched by anyone at anytime.  I’m proud to say that the production quality is good enough to be on traditional television, or hosted on a website.  Check it out for yourself here.