City Information Systems looking for people to help leverage technology for public access

Now anyone with a broadband internet connection can watch the proceedings of Fort Wayne'€™s City Council. The City of Fort Wayne'€™s technology staff is offering video on demand of City Council proceedings at the City'€™s website, www.cityoffortwayne.org.

“This feature is aligned with our mission of '€˜Effectively and Efficiently Connecting Citizens, Businesses, and Government,'€™” said Chief Information Officer Clifford Clarke. “It allows citizens to watch City Council proceedings on their own schedule.”

On the site, users will find a link to that meeting'€™s agenda and a choice of bandwidths. The City will start with the Council meetings to gauge the site'€™s performance and citizen response while evaluating other opportunities to post public meetings.


“I believe in giving citizens access to their leadership,” said Mayor Tom Henry. “Things like adding video of City Council meetings is an important step in ensuring open government. Technology like this opens a whole new world for the City to give residents what they want, when they want it.”

This supplements the live and rebroadcast meetings on Comcast Channel 58 and Verizon
Channel 28. Because of the process of converting video to streaming content, visitors to the site can expect Tuesday'€™s Council meeting to be on the site by Friday.

Meetings currently on the site are Jan. 22, Feb. 5 and Feb. 12. The video stream is the same as what is televised on City TV.

To access the meeting menu, click on the City Council Meetings (Streaming Video) link in right column under Online Services at the homepage or the left-hand menu on the City Council page. Visitors to the site will need to have the free QuickTime player installed on their computer. A link to download the necessary software is on the City'€™s site.

The new service was done at no additional cost to taxpayers, using existing staff and resources.

To continue the city'€™s progress on leveraging technology, Clarke, the City'€™s chief information officer, is looking for interested individuals to meet with him quarterly for citizen input and ideas.

Anyone interested in participating in the exchange can submit their name through the Information Systems contact page at the City'€™s website. The first meeting is expected to be in the late spring, according to Clarke.