The IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, launched in 2019, brings together groups of highly engaged, leading-edge media and technology companies from across the industry. It empowers them to identify and address critical industry challenges – developing a fast-track innovation framework to design potential solutions, tangibly experiment and ultimately break new, progressive technology frontiers.
AMD will be the exclusive Premium Sponsor and Microsoft the Programme Sponsor, as they both build on their roles as key Participants in the initiative. Both AMD and Microsoft came onboard after being active in several IBC Accelerator projects in 2021 and 2022, with Microsoft pitching ideas for new projects in 2022. These included the ‘Cloud Based Live Events, Analytics and Low Latency Protocols’ project.
“It’s fantastic to have AMD and Microsoft’s involvement as Sponsors, both of which have been highly active supporters and participants in the programme,” says IBC Innovation Lead Mark Smith. “Both have been really committed to the collaborative and innovative spirit at the heart of the Accelerator mission. We’re looking forward to seeing all eight project teams come together to showcase their innovations live and in person at IBC2022, returning to the RAI Amsterdam on 9th-12th September after a two-year absence.”
Cloud innovation projects
IBC has also announced details of two pioneering cloud projects as part of the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, with a diverse range of industry ‘Champion’ brands. These include: BBC, ITV, The Pokémon Company International; Warner Bros. Discovery; DAZN; Paramount; Olympic Broadcasting Services and many more.
Muki Kulhan, Innovation Co-Lead at IBC, says: “Cloud innovation is a critical area of technological advancement that unlocks tremendous opportunities for media and entertainment companies. Both the Champions and Participants in the IBC Accelerator programme have embraced the opportunity to partner and collaborate with a huge cross-section of pioneering organisations, addressing real-world challenges involved with cloud production and delivery – as well as other areas of innovation – working together to overcome many of the hurdles they face.”
One of the Accelerator cloud projects, ‘Cloud-Based Live Events, Analytics and Low Latency Protocols’ was pitched by Microsoft. It was combined with an ultra-low latency project proposed by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) at IBC’s Kickstart Day last April. This cloud project aims to show how cloud workflows can more efficiently deliver live professional sports and other major events, employing multiple camera feeds at scale with full visibility. The project features live IP signal ingest and standards conversion – all while minimising latency.
The project Champions – the media companies looking to contribute to and then utilise the breakthrough results from the Accelerator work – include BBC, BT Sport, BT Media & Broadcast, DAZN, ITV, OBS, Paramount, TV2, and Warner Bros. Discovery for this project.
The project Participants – the tech innovators working with the media brands to create and execute the proof of concept (POC) that will be showcased at IBC – include AMD, Microsoft, Grass Valley, Native Waves, Net Insight, Mediakind, Singular.live, THEO Technologies, TAG Video Systems and Zixi.
A second pioneering Accelerator cloud-focused project that will be showcased at IBC2022 is the ‘Cloud Localisation Blueprint.’ This spearheads the consolidation of predominant supply chain software companies to create a definitive blueprint for distributing entertainment content globally, from licensing to localisation and final delivery to building a best practice cloud-based media supply chain for content localisation. The project Champions include ITV, The Pokémon Company International and Warner Bros. Discovery. Participants are AWS, Codemill, EIDR, Fabric, Language Metadata Table (LMT), Iyuno-SDI, Rightsline, SDVI and Vidispine.
All Accelerator final POC results and demonstrations will be presented at IBC2022, showcased every day on the Innovation Stage and at a dedicated Accelerator Zone, both of which can be found in Hall 2. Each project has its own pod that will ‘show & tell’ a full overview of its challenges, demonstrate R&D findings, and answer visitor questions.
The two Accelerator cloud innovation sessions will take place on the Innovation Stage on:
- Sunday 11th September at 10.00-10.45am CET – ‘Cloud-Based Live Events, Analytics and Low Latency Protocols’
- Sunday 11th September at 11.00-11.45am CET – ‘Cloud Localisation Blueprint’
For more information on the 2022 IBC Accelerator Programme, and other project sessions at IBC click here.