Boston City Council goes digital.

• Position: GOING GREEN - Brief article

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The Boston City Council is going paperless and saving money as a result. All the council's work (e.g., committee reports, requests for city data, and other business) will be instantly accessible online. New software will improve live streaming of all council proceedings and enable video indexing, which means a searchable database of video clips will be linked to agendas, The Boston Globe reported.

For example, an online search for a topic will retrieve all discussions, video clips, and documents about the topic. In addition, council members will use touch-screen tablet computers during meetings. Such changes will make council actions more transparent and save money for the city, as well, said Michael Ross, the outgoing city council president. For example, he said, there is no need for a stenographer with the new system, saving the city money, labor, and hundreds of thousands of...