Council staff barred from online meetings

Staff at Birmingham City Council were unable to access the first set of council meetings streamed over the internet because the IT department failed to alter its web usage policy in time.

The council is exploring the use of internet streaming as a means of increasing participation in local democracy.

But the council’s own workers fell foul of internet restrictions, which deny access to steaming video services unless staff have received prior approval.

“These were the first two meetings we’d streamed, so it was not a situation we’d come across before,” a Birmingham City Council spokesman told Computing. “But we will be addressing [access controls] in future.

The council uses online video service Ustream to make the council meetings available online, along with comment tools from Cover It Live, to enable citizens to interact, posting questions and comments.