Enlighten Designs Streaming Expertise Supports Democratic Transparency

Enlighten Designs is providing web broadcasting services to Taupo District Council allowing them to stream their chamber meetings live over the Internet.

The Taupo District Council is the first council in New Zealand to install a webcam to broadcast its council meetings. Mayor Rick Cooper thought this innovative idea is going to "spread like wild fire across New Zealand". Enlighten is proud to contribute to this pioneering initiative, which enhances openness and transparency in the district. For local constituents, this means if they want to know more about governance and local government decision making, they are not restrained by lack of access due to work or other commitments. Taupo District Council has around 42 per cent of ratepayers who live outside the district. Enlighten's web broadcasting services provide a convenient and cost-effective way of offering access to the debating chamber that ratepayers would not have otherwise had.

Taupo Council Communications Manager Suzanne Takiwa said: "Enlighten Designs has been very helpful in assisting us to set up and test the equipment and software in the lead up to our live trial next week. We appreciate their assistance."

Enlighten provides flawless content delivery, as the streaming technology will provide multiple stream bit-rates to cater for users on lower bandwidth plans.

The council will broadcast the first meeting on 20 July at 1pm. Viewers can access live footage via the council website: www.taupo.govt.nz. Deputy CEO Anne McLeod says, "Given the unprecedented interest in the webcast we are looking forward to the initial trial next week and have done our homework to make sure it runs as smoothly as possible."

Enlighten delivers high-quality, reliable streaming services - live or on-demand to meet the specific requirements of their customers. In this case the live video has the ability to reach hundreds of simultaneous viewers nationwide.

Enlighten is a premier video/audio streaming service provider. Their most recent streaming projects include streaming the Winter Olympics Vancouver 2010 and the Black Caps vs. Pakistan cricket test 2009 for Sky Sports. These projects also led to Enlighten being featured on an Amazon Web Services worldwide case study.

Other organisations that Enlighten has successfully delivered live streaming events for include the New Zealand National Party, Mystery Creek Fieldays, The Edge Radio Network and Napier 2000AD Millennium Celebrations.

Established in 1998, Enlighten is one of New Zealand's largest website design companies and are renowned software development specialists. With 11 years' experience, a talented team of over 50 staff and a track record for successfully delivering real business results, Enlighten is the first choice as an IT partner. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Enlighten has won the Partnering Award of the Year at the New Zealand Microsoft Partner Awards in 2008 and 2009, as well as being nominated for 6 awards this year.

ENDS

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