IBC2025 has announced details of its Accelerator Media Innovation Programme projects.
Eight Proof of Concept (PoC) and one Incubator project will be showcased in the Accelerator Zone at the forthcoming IBC Show in Amsterdam. Uniting media leaders and technology partners from across the globe, the Accelerator Programme is designed to promote collaboration and fast-track real-world, deployable solutions to some of the technological challenges facing the media and entertainment industry.
Google Cloud is the headline sponsor of this year’s programme with AMD-HP and Shure associate sponsors.
Mark Smith, IBC Accelerator founder and lead said, “The Accelerator Programme continues to build momentum as we head into Amsterdam, with new Champions joining. These projects tackle the most urgent challenges in our industry – from AI-driven production and ensuring trust in content to enabling sustainability and more flexible connectivity – and they showcase powerful, practical outcomes.”
The original line-up of project Champions pitching challenges in February included ITN, the BBC, BT Media & Broadcast, Comcast, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), ITV, Globo, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI),SVT, University of Strathclyde, Verizon Business and Yle.
“The Accelerator Programme is a remarkable opportunity for the industry to drive innovation through genuine collaboration,” said Jon Roberts, CTO at ITN. “The challenges it tackles are both urgent and relevant, and with projects like our work on Agentic AI, we aim to help shape a shared vision for addressing the biggest issues – and opportunities – before us.”
Subsequently, RTÉ joined several projects as an Accelerator Champion, joining others including: The Associated Press (AP), Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), Adapt Media Services, British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), Bouygues Telecom, Channel 4, France Télévisions Greening of Streaming, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), University of Kent (Institute of Cultural and Creative industries), International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) Media Cluster Norway, Orange Events, QTV, Sveriges Television (SVT), Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA), Vlaamse Radio-en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT), Video Services Forum ( VSF) and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).
Richard Waghorn, CTO at Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) added, “This is a great place to develop younger talent and give engineers the chance to roll up their sleeves and get involved. From Content Provenance/C2PA to ultra-low-latency streaming to master control in the cloud, these are hugely important topics. RTÉ has been involved in several projects this year, and we value the programme enormously.”
The nine projects that will be demonstrated and discussed on the Accelerator Zone’s Future Tech stage are:
- A Framework for Generative AI: Orchestrating generative AI tools into a structured framework for broadcasters, balancing high-quality creativity and ethics with automation to streamline production pipelines.
- AI Agent Assistants for Live Production: Demonstrating an AI Assistant Director and a suite of production agents using natural language and voice interaction to simplify control room workflows and speed up decision-making.
- Ultra Low Latency Streaming at Scale: Delivering sub-2s latency streaming at scale to concurrent viewers, matching broadcast latencies through an open, scalable architecture.
- Stamping Your Content (C2PA Provenance): Open-source tools embedding provenance credentials from the creation to the point of publication, making it easier for audiences to identify trusted content.
- Conquering the Air(waves): Private 5G from Land to Sea to Sky: Using drones and ultra-light aircraft to extend private 5G networks for live production on the move over distance, bringing fans closer to the action.
- Master Control Cloud: A cloud-native routing, monitoring and talkback system, offering more flexible and scalable master control functionality.
- Ecoflow II: A digital twin of streaming workflows to measure and reduce energy consumption, helping platform teams build business cases for sustainability.
- Live Media Exchange (LMX): Developing a new approach to exchanging live video and audio across data-centre grade networks, improving efficiency while reducing vendor lock-in.
- Special Incubator MVP – Changing the Game Again: Demonstrating real-time, AI-powered sports highlights, dynamic camera angles and interactive features designed to transform fan engagement.
Participants in the projects range from across the media and entertainment environment and include: Accedo, AMD-HP, Amira Labs, Animatix, Appear, Ateme, Bitfocus, Bitmovin, Castlabs, Chyron, CuePilot, CUEZ, d&b solutions, Elecard, Eutelsat, EVS, Google Cloud, Haivision, Highfield AI, Humans Not Robots, InSync, Moments Lab, Monks, Neutral Wireless, Norsk/id3as, Open Broadcast Systems, OpenOrigins, Orange Events, Phrame Ltd, Pluxbox, Qualabs, Quanteec, Shure, Sony, Spectral Compute Ltd, Studio Deussen, TATA Consultancy Services (TCS), Techex, Tesla Technologies & Software S.L., Trufo, Videntifier, Xansr Media, Yaara Marchiano, Yospace and Zixi.
