Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), the global leader in broadband satellite solutions and a leading provider of managed network services, today announced enhancements to its HughesON™ Digital Media Solutions for Government platform. These new capabilities increase social media integration, enable low-cost cloud services for content storage and expand emergency notification functionality.
According to a Pew Research Center report1, 73 percent of adults online use a social media networking site. That means public sector agencies have the opportunity to reach nearly 75 percent of citizens online to share information, ranging from instructions during disasters to the status of public initiatives, by employing new generation digital media solutions.

“I am proud to offer the benefits of HughesON Digital Media Solutions to the government market,” said Tony Bardo, assistant vice president of Government Solutions at Hughes. “HughesON’s social media platform enables agencies to cut through the content aggregation process and focus instead on the content itself. This approach provides citizens more efficient access to their government, resulting in transparency and an informed public.”

Social media is an integrated part of HughesON Digital Media Solutions and the enhancements bring a full slate of features to more effectively access Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, Google+ and Instagram. Easy-to-use templates and HTML5 make for rapid creation of social media feeds, enabling agencies to deliver relevant content based on location.

Hughes was an early adopter of cloud-based storage and distribution services, and the latest enhancements include the option to use Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) with the full suite of HughesON Digital Signage Solutions. Using the cloud for content storage and access simplifies operational management and resource requirements.

HughesON Digital Media Solutions also includes an existing base of valuable experience proven in the private sector and used to create vibrant digital signage that incorporates relevant social media posts and interactive mediums. This attention-grabbing signage is ready for use in motor vehicle departments, public hospitals, universities, correctional facilities and other public sector organizations that have traditionally struggled to disseminate valuable information.

“When urgent situations arise, agencies need to react quickly and provide accurate and timely information to citizens, first responders and other agencies,” added Bardo. “Our solution now allows the use of unique messages on each screen or group of screens, making the messages relevant to the precise location and situation.”

The new enhancements to HughesON Digital Media Solutions are available now via GSA Schedule 70 #GS-35F-0907P.

About Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes) is the world’s leading provider of satellite broadband for home and office, delivering innovative network technologies, managed services, and solutions for enterprises and governments globally. HughesNet® is the #1 high-speed satellite Internet service in the marketplace, with offerings to suit every budget. To date, Hughes has shipped more than 4 million systems to customers in over 100 countries, representing approximately 50 percent market share. Its products employ global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A, and GMR-1.

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland, USA, Hughes operates sales and support offices worldwide, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), a premier global provider of satellite operations and digital TV solutions. For additional information about Hughes, please visit www.hughes.com.

©2014 Hughes Network Systems, LLC, an EchoStar company. Hughes and HughesNet are registered trademarks and HughesON is a trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, LLC.

1 Maeve Duggan and Aaron Smith, Pew Research Center, January 2014, “Social Media Update 2013” Available at: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Social-Media-Update.aspx