A U.K. company is putting a new twist on community television, bringing it into the IP and IPTV worlds as it does so. WebsEdge is a content provider that targets both communities of interest and local communities in creating specialized content that can be delivered over the Internet and over IPTV systems.

The content the company provides can be used for multiple purposes, including education and communication, but WebsEdge is looking to partner with service providers or communities — or both — to take its highly specialized content to a broader audience. In the process, said Stephen Horn, WebsEdge CEO, the company believes it can help IPTV become more of a tool for building and strengthening communities.

WebsEdge already operates three Internet "channels" of content for specialized communities in the U.S. One, Global Health TV, started for the Global Health Council, includes not only video content from conferences and other programs, but also user-generated content from GHC members in often remote areas around the world.

"They share a big community of interest," Horn said. "The members can be anywhere from Afghanistan to Bosnia. Video can bring those situations to life."

Two other channels — one for city managers and a new one coming online for colleges and universities — combine such things as best-practice views with news and information targeted for that audience.

While this content can be delivered over the Internet to a PC, Horn sees the potential for specialized content to be delivered as well over IPTV, in some cases to geographical communities, as well as communities of interest, and used to help cities and communities address social problems and communicate more effectively with their residents.

"The issue that a lot of people seem to miss with this is that big cities have big social problems they need to deal with, and communications is a big part of that," he said. "We have pilot projects in which we work with IPTV providers to put set-top boxes into some areas, which allows them to provide interactivity to engage with people."

The partnership approach would involve municipalities that are willing to contribute to the cost of taking IPTV into the homes of local residents, Horn said. "Cities can look at the high cost of some of their problems and, rather than look at the entertainment or branding value of IPTV, see how TV can work to solve some social exclusion."

Because IPTV can be a two-way communication, it can enable local governments to reach out to hard-to-reach segments of the population to combat persistent problems such as truancy among residents who may not have access to PCs or the Internet, he said. Cities in which literally dozens of languages are spoken — and most big cities have that problem today — can use IPTV to reach out to residents in a language other than English via specialized programming, he said.

"This is a way of practically engaging in diverse communities," Horn said. "This is not just about disadvantaged groups because there are a lot of people that aren't disadvantaged but are disengaged. Middle class families without children, for example, may want culture programming. IPTV offers a way of providing much more individual programming and a level of interactivity."

By bringing together cities and IPTV service providers as partners, WebsEdge hopes to facilitate a process that will enable IPTV providers to extend the reach of their networks into areas that might not otherwise be served, while giving cities an option for providing a higher level of service to local residents, he said.

"It is to the service provider's advantage because they get a guaranteed income," Horn said. "If the cities can see that they can address problems that cost them a lot of money, it is to their advantage as well. If you can devise a service in such a way that it helps a city address a social problem, then you can call it a win-win."

Cities can also use the services to publicize local events, including legal requirements for public meeting notifications, in multiple languages, potentially saving money in the process.

To date, WebsEdge has only done pilot projects in Europe, and Horn said scaling challenges remain, but the company hopes to work this approach to everyone's benefit. Because its content is so specialized, the company doesn't expect to make a great deal on advertising revenue predicated on the volume of eyeballs but does sell sponsorships to companies wishing to reach its very targeted markets.