Kaltura is the world’s first open source collaborative video platform. This is quite awesome stuff. Think of it as a YouTube type system for embedding videos on a webpage with the following important differences:

1. There is an “Add to this video” button.
2. There is an “Edit this video” button.
3. This is open source, creating unparalleled opportunities for further innovation of the technology.

Kaltura allows users to collaboratively add video, audio and images to an existing video. This is similar to the YouTube Remixer, but designed for multi-user collaborative editing, and not just personal video mash-ups.

Kudos to the Wikimedia foundation for helping to make this technology free and open (see press release and beta project landing page).

I am now in the process of developing a TikiWiki extension that will provide integration between TikiWiki and Kaltura. This extension will leverage the comprehensive TikiWiki permissions framework to provide managed collaborative video editing in a variety of settings.

The potential for non-profits and for-profits to use this technology to engage constituents and customers is immense. Keep in mind though, that the project is still young, but with something as game-changing as this, I am sure a rapid community will grow around the project to make it a big success in the months and years to come.