State of Utah's Web video site has big goals

As more states investigate use of YouTube as a multimedia portal (see California and Virginia), the state of Utah is working at building its own video platform. Dave Fletcher, the State of Utah's Chief Technology Officer, says he is not only excited about Utah GovCast as it is, but about its potential. "More is happening," he says simply. Is it ever.

"The site now provides a video search for several hundred videos as well as access to almost 30 different multimedia channels in Utah government," Fletcher told Municipalist.

"Previously video content on Utah.gov had been uncoordinated and difficult to find," Fletcher said. "We wanted to create a home for multimedia content that would eliminate this problem.

"We hope eventually to get everyone using a more standard format which will allow us to move to an even more visually appealing functional site in the future. We are also developing a better coordinated Utah.gov YouTube site that will be available in the near future.

"At the same time, we hoped to gain some momentum with agencies by making it easy for them as well to see what others are doing and benefit from their ideas." Fletcher recommended these videos: Wasatch Fault Flyby,  Utah Is the Answer, and Utah Golf. Fletcher pointed out that Utah also has various YouTube channels which are somewhat consolidated here.

Fletcher answered our questions by email this week:

History
Utah GovCast went live in May 2007. It was designed to be a central portal for multimedia and to help citizens quickly find multimedia content. I have reviewed other states' multimedia services and have not found any with as diverse and as rich amount of content as Utah GovCast.

Utah.gov was named as the #1 state portal in the annual Best of the Web competition sponsored by the Center for Digital Government in 2007. I believe that Utah GovCast was a significant component distinguishing Utah.gov from other state portals.

Who is using this content, and how?
Multimedia content can be used for many different purposes as evidenced by the diversity of content on Utah GovCast. Citizens are able to review the governor's positions on issues in the regular webcast. Hunters and fisherman like to access Utah Wildlife Radio online. The Department of Workforce Services and other agencies provide online training for Utah businesses on topics like workers compensation and labor laws. And art afficionados access art-related video, while health professionals can get information on policies from the Utah Health Department.

Public reaction
What feedback we have received has pretty much all been positive.

[Also at Utah GovCast: A list of blogs produced by Utah state government agencies.]

[And here is a recent AP piece on how Utah's state politicians are using Twitter.]