Partnership provides Hoosiers with quick, convenient access to inner workings of state government

January 16, 2007
Contact: communications@ihets.org

From the opening proceedings of the 115th Indiana General Assembly to regularly scheduled sessions of the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance committees, Governor Daniels’ 2007 State of the State Address, and an Election Recount Commission meeting, IHETS continues to support and manage a growing state government interest in video and audio streaming.

State of the State Address

Since he took office three years ago, IHETS has provided real-time (live) and on-demand (archived) streaming of Governor Daniels’ State of the State Address. The January 16, 2007 update emphasized Daniels' plans for the coming year, informing both citizens and lawmakers about the governor’s goals and objectives. Delivered from the House chamber, the audience included members of the House and Senate as well as judges, various officeholders, guests, lobbyists, and others who filled the House gallery. The general public can view archived coverage of the address online at: http://www.in.gov/gov/state/.

Indiana General Assembly

The House of Representatives began utilizing IHETS video and audio streaming in 2005, a first in the state's history*. The project was soon expanded to include the Senate. In 2006, IHETS upgraded the Senate Webcasts to visually display speaker names and improved camera angles.

For two years interested citizens and members of the media have been able to view live and archived video of regularly scheduled legislative sessions, deliberations, committee meetings, votes on specific bills and resolutions, and other proceedings in both chambers.

This year, IHETS worked with legislative services staff to deploy a new distributed streaming model to reduce bandwidth requirements and associated costs. “Because of a growing volume of viewers within state government itself, having on-site and off-site servers eliminates the state’s need to purchase more bandwidth. This move will also accommodate a larger amount of content origination as additional capacity is needed,” reported George Khazal, IHETS digital media consultant.

In 2007, IHETS is also assisting state house personnel with configuring the Senate Finance Room so its meetings and deliberations can be streamed. Other service expansions include encoding and archiving content from the Senate and House Ways & Means Committee.

Although audio and video coverage of these sessions is not intended to serve as a public record or legislative history, it is available online at:

• Senate: http://mediaserver.ihets.org/senate/
• House of Representatives: http://mediaserver.ihets.org/house/ or
• General Assembly: http://www.in.gov/legislative/session/video.html

Election Recount Commission

Streaming proved to be a convenient tool for Secretary of State (SOS) staffers responsible for promoting and coordinating a public hearing last month to consider election contests and recounts in House Districts 97 (Mahern v. Elrod), 31 (Hile v. Harris), and 69 (Bright v. Cheatham).

According to Jen Fanger, communications director, all such meetings are open to the public and must be held in accordance with Indiana's Open Door Law. “We promoted the streamed broadcast as an alternative means for interested individuals to view the proceedings. The final data analysis tabulating the total number of Web hits is not yet complete, but the feedback we received from the public and members of the media was overwhelmingly positive,” Fanger reported.

Hoosiers from geographically distant areas of the state were able to receive real-time information without traveling, she said. “It also offered members of the media from smaller newspapers a convenient tool for providing their local readers with in-depth coverage,” noted Fanger.

Originating from the State Government Center in Indianapolis, commission members, counsel, the recount director, representatives from the State Board of Accounts, and other state staff were in attendance.

"While there is a learning curve with any new technology, IHETS worked with us and IOT every step of the way. By the end of the day, it was smooth sailing. We will absolutely use IHETS again for this type of project,” Fanger concluded.

How many people view this Web-based content?

In FY 2005–06 (July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006), the total number of hits to streamed state content was 257,151. The content included the Governor’s State of the State Address, Indiana Supreme Court arguments, legislative sessions of the Indiana General Assembly, debate among the House Ways & Means Committee, and more.

For more information, contact George Khazal at gkhazal@ihets.org or 317.263.8870.

*See: House Republicans Provide Open and Effective Government as 2005 Legislation Session Begins.