Granicus Announces New Solutions for Three State Legislatures

Granicus, an award-winning cloud computing provider for government transparency, efficiency, and citizen participation, today announced three new state legislature clients: Oklahoma House of Representatives, Virginia House and Senate, and the Illinois Gen

San Francisco(26 Jul 2010)

Granicus, an award-winning cloud computing provider for government transparency, efficiency, and citizen participation, today announced three new state legislature clients: Oklahoma House of Representatives, Virginia House and Senate, and the Illinois General Assembly – LIS Division. Granicus is showcasing these and other clients at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Legislative Summit in Louisville, KY from July 25-28 at Booth #425.

More than ever, state agencies are implementing cost-efficient web-based solutions to connect with citizens and meet transparency demands. “We’re excited about the opportunity to partner with these agencies to help make their legislative proceedings and bill information more transparent and easier to research and manage online,” says Chris Rynders, Enterprise Solutions for State Legislatures. “Granicus is experiencing stronger demands at the state level to use new media to engage and inform online audiences. We’re in a strong position to help state agencies meet these demands with the latest technologies that have proven to be successful for thousands of government staff and millions of citizens.”

Granicus solutions for state government are delivered through the company’s cloud computing platform and product suites. Over 700 agencies trust their ‘designed-for-government’ solutions to engage more people the democratic process—30 of these are state agencies. Granicus gives state legislatures everything they need to host, manage, and deliver rich media content effectively. They rely on these key Granicus features:

•    Secure, Reliable World Class Infrastructure – Ensuring all live and archived legislative content—Senate, House, and Committee meetings and bill data—is redundantly stored and intelligently delivered through comprehensive managed services and support. This helps reduce IT burden and cost for agencies.

•    Video Integrated with Bill Status and Scheduling/Calendar Systems – Connecting with internal legislative solutions such as bill tracking and scheduling systems to provide more resourceful information to online audiences.
•    Video Indexed to Bills and Orders of the Day – Enabling viewers to easily watch specific bill or resolution discussions, whenever they want.
•    Searchable Closed Captioning – Allowing keyword searches on any word spoken in the video offers immediate access to the content viewers are most interested in. 
•    Reach Broad Audiences with Podcasting and Mobile Streaming – Providing access to meetings from anytime, over any media-compatible mobile device with downloadable audio (MP3) and video (MP4) formats.
•    Enhanced Digital Recording for Clerks Staff – Recording legislative actions as they occur live and archiving records in a one-stop legislative portal online.

Granicus has earned a successful track-record in state government over the past three years. The Tennessee General Assembly uses Granicus to build a comprehensive legislative portal of all sessions, integrated with their internal bill tracking system. They were honored with NCSL’s Online Democracy Award last year for having the most transparent website. Also, the Colorado General Assembly has worked with Granicus for nearly three years to provide live and searchable video archives of all their Senate and House proceedings. Since implementing their solution, they have successfully engaged over 13,000 people in their legislative process via their website.

“Granicus plays a major role in helping the State of Colorado increase government transparency, fostering a new generation of engaged citizens,” says Scott Nachtrieb, Legislative Council Staff. “It gives ‘Colorodans’ the opportunity to watch the Colorado General Assembly proceedings first hand, anytime, anyplace through a direct, unfiltered unbiased lens. It’s also helping the Colorado Channel deliver educational content over the web to help the public better understand and participate in the legislative process.”

About Granicus
Granicus, Inc. is the leading cloud computing provider for government transparency, efficiency, and citizen participation. It offers the first cloud platform and product suites designed specifically to help government agencies take advantage of the convenience of web-based solutions. It enables them to connect with citizens in meaningful new ways online, over mobile devices, or social networks. Also, it helps boost staff efficiency and control costs through automated online processes that can be managed at anytime, from any location. For more information visit www.granicus.com.