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.

Thought so. And we are too here at WebsEdge. It’s been a busy year and there’s so much more to look forward to!

Last week in fact we were at the seaside in Bournemouth for the Local Government Association Annual Conference. We were there for two reasons; to show a series of programmes we made through the local government channel and to honour front-line workers through the council worker of the year awards.

Around the conference we conducted some research into how citizens interact with councils and what their major concerns are. As you can imagine people are concerned about crime etc but by and large they were happy enough with the overall job councils are doing. But what really surprised me was how poorly they think councils communicate. And get this. Only 6% use the Internet as their primary means of communication. When we pushed them further 64% wanted to see video as part of that communications mix.

A lot to ‘chew’ on when we made it over to the council worker of the year dinner. At the dinner we showed videos of each finalist which had played on our website over the past ten weeks allowing citizens to vote for their favourite worker. It was a good night and everyone enjoyed picking up their prizes and toasting the winners. View the winners collecting their awards!

But what stuck in my mind was the 21 year old man collecting his award for bravery. The video showed how he had saved several lives through cool thinking when the bus he was travelling on almost crashed because the driver suffered a heart attack. Luke received a standing ovation from the whole audience and was widely applauded in the press the next day. View his story here.

At the end of the day video tells powerful stories – be it on or off line. And if institutions are going to communicate with their stakeholders in the 21st century they’re going to have to make a whole lot better use of it.

However you look at it the revolution is happening! We’re seeing amazing numbers of people tuning in to watch their television on-line.

The figures around the US Presidential elections are truly amazing. Just look at the viewing figures for Super Tuesday. CNN’s video portal provided 2.7 million video streams along with 600,000 live feeds of the election day. Similarly, to date, MTV’s sites ChooseorLose.com and MTVNews.com had their busiest days for online video.

Where is this all coming from? I see two large factors influencing the increased online viewership this year: first and foremost is the updated technology has allowed more simultaneous viewers to watch smooth streams. Secondly, I think people are finding video online for their search for relevant content.

This is an incredibly tight presidential nomination race which has an impressive amount of the US public attached to it. A large portion of the voters are tuning in to follow the overall campaign coverage and specifically to hone in on their top candidate. Ultimately, this is where standard TV fails and IPTV succeeds- traditional TV is designed for everyone, catering to the interests of all the public where as online video is specific and tailored to a specific audience.

Online video allows viewers a more personal look at topics and content that addresses their targeted interests. If you are watching a single channel on traditional TV you are stuck with the topic the channel is covering at that moment. If you want more information on a subject the process to go about getting more information can be cumbersome and there is no telling if you will get it.

With the uptake in adoption to online video, everything changes. Your viewing habits become more targeted, you can engage with the subjects being discussed and ultimately - you select videos to watch about specific topics (or regions, in the case of the primary elections) that are relevant to you. If you want more on a topic, many sites provide the option to view similar videos.

We are at a major turning point regarding online video and the 2008 election will play a large role in influence and shaping the way we utilize online video. The rules and methods of broadcasting are changing with online video and viewer’s want to share their thoughts and ask questions about what they are viewing but more importantly they want answers too — the 2008 election will continue to serve as a great example of how this new medium of viewing content is evolving the way we communicate not only a government level, but with the communities we build on shared topics of interest.