The possibilities are endless. In one way, that is part of the problem. However, webcams have had a warm reception on many college campuses because they allow virtual visitors to see the center of campus or a favorite student spot. And the applications for promoting tourism are obvious. One fine example is the live view of O'Connell Bridge in Dublin City, Ireland.
Webcams are cheap, and they capture pictures easily.
You could capture a community brainstorming session-where participants are updating images of a neighborhood on whiteboard. This would allow planners to see how a community plan evolved, or allow citizens who did not attend a particular meeting to see how a plan was created. This technology also been used for traffic monitoring. The California Department of Transportation and Maxwell Technologies have teamed up to create SmarTraveler, which offers views of major freeway intersections from several cities. There are five streaming images from San Francisco's freeways, updated every few seconds.