Over the years, as technology has progressed, so has the ability for municipalities to use new technology to provide greater transparency and engage it’s constituents. This is even more true today as more-and-more tools and services leverage the web. EarthChannel CEO Cliff Johnson takes a look back at some of the milestones that brought us to where we are today in his article “New Video Technologies Enhance Government Efficiency, Transparency And Accountability“.

As Sir Issac Newton once said, we are but “Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants” [Wikipedia] and reading through Johnson’s article you can get a clear perspective of all the many big steps that occurred to bring us to where we are today.

The 1980s gave us our first taste of affordable video gear. By 1986, Video production equipment that had previously required investments of more than $100,000, could suddenly be acquired for under $20,000. One of television’s greatest ‘barriers of entry’ had fallen!

And today those costs are even lower with HD cameras available for under $2000.

Definitely worth a read and if you’re anything like me, it’ll lift your perspective to the “big picture” of how technology has and will continue to drive us all towards better government.

Disclosure: EarthChannel is a sponsor of PEGChannels.org and Michael Ashby, the author of this entry, does do some work for EarthChannel in their support and marketing departments.

Source: EarthChannel
Photo: Milpitas City Council Meeting for The Milpitas Post by courtesy of Liz Cantu