IBC announces London Technology Booster speaker line-up and pre-event interactive webinar

News provided by

IBC

24 May, 2013, 12:43 GMT

LONDON, May 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IBC today reveals that in the run up to its new broadcast technology event, IBC London Technology Booster, it will be hosting a free webcast, "Is the Cloud a Friend or Foe For Connected Content?", on Tuesday 4 June 2013 at 13:30 (GMT), broadcast live from the London Stock Exchange.

The webinar will be hosted by Guardian columnist and broadcasting consultant Steve Hewlett, who will be joined by industry leaders from NBC Universal, Digital TV Group, Ericsson and Harmonic. Continuing the interactive – no barriers between speakers and audience – theme, webinar delegates will be able to ask the panel questions relevant to their business and share their opinions and they can submit their questions through the IBC London Technology Booster website at www.ibc.org/technologybooster. Delegates can sign up to the webcast at www.ibc.org/techwebcast

IBC can also confirm the full programme and speaker line-up for the IBC London Technology Booster. The intensive two day conference, which takes place at Dexter House on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 June 2013, will feature interactive sessions, quick-fire clinics and tutorials from high profile speakers from organisations including the BBC, Channel 4, Cisco and Microsoft. The sessions will give technical professionals a hands-on insight into the implications of the Cloud and Connected Content on the broadcast and electronic media and entertainment market.

Day one of IBC London Technology Booster focusses on Floating Cloud Concepts for New Business, which will give delegates an overview of how technological advances in Cloud and distributed computing are changing the shape of broadcasting organisations and enabling new scenarios and opportunities in media. By attending day one of the conference, technical professionals will be able to better understand how the Cloud works today and what it can achieve tomorrow.

Day two, entitled Connecting Content – From the Networks to the Home, will explore how the traditional broadcast model is evolving and what the catalysts and disruptors for this change are. Key topics to be examined include how to take advantage of new multicast and connected content models, both from a business perspective as well as a viewpoint of the technical challenges.

Each session across the two-day event is designed around different formats to give delegates unrivalled access to broadcast and technology experts and thought leaders. Tutorials will give an in-depth learning experience and arm delegates with practical examples they can use in the work place. These will include "Practical Cloud Solutions" on day one at 12:00, led by Microsoft's Xavier Pouyat and Tobias Weisserth, who will look at how the Cloud can be used to help achieve business goals and offer practical examples through case studies.

The "quick-fire clinics" will see experts tackling attendees' specific challenges head on. For example, the "Connected Content" clinic at 11:00 on day two will explore how to develop and deploy connected services and will explore core industry topics including metadata, archiving, the Internet of Things and consumer needs.

The "Looking under the hood" session format will offer case studies to improve understanding of key issues and offer a fresh perspective of current projects. "Looking under the hood" at 14:00 on day two will be led by John Zubrzycki, principal technologist, R&D BBC. Zubrzycki will showcase how the BBC used archiving and retrieval techniques to cope with the channel's ambitious streaming and on-demand coverage of the London Olympic Games. The session will offer delegates practical insights into how they are able to monetise archived content and best practice advice on archiving.

An "audience debate" entitled "The Next Big Battle: Broadcast vs. Multicast" on day two at 15:00, will led by Gerard Faria, CTO, Teamcast and offer delegates the chance to hear the arguments for and against key topics and give their opinion.

The "interactive" sessions will facilitate conversations between delegates and panellists. On day one the interactive session will feature Intel futurist Brian David Johnson and Cochran Associates' futurologist Peter Cochrane, who will give a glimpse of what a Cloud-based future might look like. Starting with a detailed introduction into how the Cloud is used now, the session will go on to outline what impact its continued evolution could have on the convergent media industry and society at large.

Also leading an "interactive" session will be Ian Mecklenburgh, director, consumer platforms and devices, Virgin Media in "The Opportunities of Convergence: New Platforms." This session will mix expert insights with robust questioning from the audience to explore the opportunities afforded by new streaming, coding and processing techniques, along with the consumer behaviour driving these trends.

As part of the build-up to the Technology Booster, key speakers will be asked to share their views on key topics through a series called "60 Second" interviews. In his piece, Mecklenburgh gives a flavour of what his session will include: "It's important for businesses to try to match the pace of technology innovation with what people are asking for. Sometimes the industry can move quickly, and due to the size and complexity of changes, we need to predict and set things in motion ahead of actual market change – those mainstream consumers move more slowly than most of us in the industry think."

Register before 5 June to ensure a discount of up to £100 with early bird passes starting from £199. To find out more out the IBC London Technology Booster visit www.ibc.org/technologybooster.

Sponsors for the event have been confirmed as:

Platinum: Harmonic, Ericsson

Gold: Aspera, Cisco, Forbidden Technologies, EMC, Telefonica, Quantum, Zoo, VITEC Videocom

Silver: IABM, GEO

Bronze: Amberfin, Digital Rapids, Elemental, ERA, MediaGenix

About the IBC London Technology Booster

On the 25 and 26 June 2013, the IBC London Technology Booster will host an interactive, shamelessly technical conference covering two of today's most important technology topics - the Cloud and Connected Content.

The IBC London Technology Booster has been purposely designed to be shaped by you. Lead the debate, challenge those who are leading the agenda, collaborate and network with vendors and broadcasters and pull down the barriers between gain practical insight in to these two hot topics.