SF government media provider buys Chicago software maker

Granicus Inc., a government media provider, has acquired of Daystar Computer Systems, a provider of agenda management products and services to government agencies.

Financial details of the transaction between the two private companies were not reported. Granicus, of San Francisco, supplies government agencies with the software, hardware, infrastructure and expertise to quickly integrate streaming media into their communications tool set.

Its comprehensive solutions for creating and managing live and on-demand streaming media content support public meeting communications, internal training and public education programs for government.

The acquisition of the Chicago company expands Granicus’ product portfolio with powerful legislative tools to run government policy-making with greater efficiency and transparency, according to the May 11 announcement.

Daystar’s core product, Legistar, will join Granicus’ cloud platform as part of its Legislative Management Suite. As a result, agencies will be able to use Granicus’ solution to access Legistar’s agenda and minutes tools to streamline workflow.

Nearly 100 government entities currently use Legistar to process over 3.1 million pieces of legislative data, including votes, appointments and other meeting actions.

For example, Long Beach, Calif., has been using Granicus and Legistar since 2002 to improve legislative efficiency and transparency, reducing the amount of paper and people required, and achieving nearly $3.1 million in total cost savings, the announcement said.