IBC returns to Amsterdam next month to unite the media and entertainment industry to collaborate, learn, network and unlock new business opportunities. With more than 1,000 confirmed exhibitors and a raft of headline speakers already announced, IBC organisers are gearing up for a fresh and exciting show.
With three new “core pillars” at the heart of the content themes and broader agenda for this year’s edition, the event organisers are looking to showcase game-changing innovation and tackle our industry’s most pressing business trends and issues, while sparking positive change for a more inclusive and sustainable industry.
To dig a little deeper into the content pillars for 2023, TVBEurope begins a three-part series of features with senior figures from IBC to explore the themes of Transformative Tech, Shifting Business Models, and People and Purpose.
We start with Mark Smith, innovation lead and newly appointed chair of the IBC Council, who walks us through the finer points of the Transformative Tech pillar.
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The beating heart of the industry
Transformative technology has always been the beating heart of the media industry, driving evolution, breaking new frontiers and empowering content creators to imagine fresh possibilities. IBC consistently champions groundbreaking technologies, showcasing leading-edge solutions and services while providing an incubator for innovation; especially through the Accelerator Media Innovation Programme. Engineering and development teams work tirelessly throughout the year to bring new technologies to the forefront and pioneer real-world use cases, and that’s exactly what we’re helping to drive in a collaborative way through our Accelerator projects. Building on the huge successes of last year, we’re bringing together a line-up of pioneering media companies and technology partners that have united to solve common challenges and push new boundaries across the media and entertainment sector.
Transformative Tech is the driving force that makes working in media so exciting, unpredictable, and fascinating, and it plays a massive role in deciding where our industry is heading and how the viewer experience evolves. That’s why it’s a pillar of IBC2023.
Smarter ways of working
We’re seeing big technology shifts in our industry right now. AI is advancing at breakneck speed; cloud is proving itself on the biggest stages; 5G-enabled connectivity is opening up an array of new production opportunities and re-shaping consumer experiences. Meanwhile, media brands and content owners are battling economic uncertainties to make their businesses as efficient as possible. Technology is a huge force in helping media companies not only be more creative and exciting, but also in enabling them to operate more efficiently while unlocking new cost-savings. It’s never technology for technology’s sake, especially not in 2023. Business leaders know that a show like IBC is the perfect place to uncover the best new technologies and smarter ways of working. And if you’re putting in the work to bring an inventive product to market that can make a difference, IBC is where you come to shout about it.
What to look forward to at IBC2023
Cutting-edge innovation across areas such as cloud, AI, 5G, XR, metaverse and edge computing will be front and centre throughout the sessions, panels and demos across the showfloor theatres and at the IBC Conference. Our Accelerator Programme projects will also showcase proof-of-concept demonstrations at the Innovation Stage: the culmination of months of hard work, dedication and learning from groups comprising industry pioneers and dynamic start-ups. Some truly exceptional projects are taking part this year, covering connectivity anywhere for remote productions with cloud and edge workflows, synthetic human avatars and accessibility, immersive sport, metadata-driven content targeting, and live, 5G-enabled motion capture performance art and animation.
The IBC Technical Papers Programme leads the way in showcasing original, novel research, driving new technology concepts forward and exploring their real-world applications; it’s the pinnacle of R&D in media technology. With the IBC Innovation Awards celebrating the best success stories harnessing tech for game-changing business outcomes, there’s so much on offer this year when it comes to transformative technology.
