Prasar Bharati CEO's address at ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium

Introduction

Mr. Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CEO of Prasar Bharati, delivers the opening address at the ABU Digital Broadcast Symposium.

Mr. Vempati's Opening Address

• Mr. Vempati is leading the transformation of Deutsche and All India Radio.

• The symposium comes at a crucial time as we are just starting to come out of the pandemic.

• Broadcasting played a critical role during the pandemic by providing information to citizens across countries.

• Broadcasting is important during conflicts when internet platforms are blocked and critical broadcast infrastructure is targeted.

• New digital tools and technologies are enriching how information is presented, including satellite maps used in real-time and digital intelligence aggregating videos.

The Future of Broadcasting

• The future lies at the intersection of traditional broadcasting, digital technologies, artificial intelligence algorithms, and new age tools for broadcasters across the world.

The Future of Digital Innovation in Broadcasting

In this section, Mr. Shashi discusses the need for personalized, interactive, and immersive storytelling that blurs the lines between real and virtual. He emphasizes the importance of setting global standards for digitization and transformation in broadcasting.

Personalized Storytelling

• Storytelling needs to be more personalized, interactive, and immersive.

• The lines between real and virtual should blur to create a new reality.

Setting Global Standards

• The Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) community should lead in developing digital innovation in broadcasting.

• It is important to establish global standards for digitization and transformation.

• Historically, the Asia Pacific region has not been at the forefront of driving standards.

• ABU broadcasters should come together to define these standards.

• This will benefit from economies of scale and sharing best practices across the globe.

Direct-to-Mobile Broadcasting

• Prasad Bharti is working on direct-to-mobile broadcasting with IIT Kanpur, TSDSI, and ATSC.

• Broadcast signals will be delivered directly to smartphones and tablets with embedded chipsets.

• This opens up a whole new class of broadcasting services that can take advantage of broadcast infrastructure while also having internet-based app-based interactivity intelligence.

• Standards need to be developed around direct mobile broadcasting.

Summary of Mr. Shashi's Address

In this section, Jawad summarizes Mr. Shashi's address by highlighting key points related to education, public service media, diversity, technical communities taking a lead role in innovation.

Key Points

• Mr. Shashi touched on many areas including education, public service media, diversity, and technical communities taking a lead role in innovation.

• Public service media plays an important role in educating the public and being a trusted source of information.

• Technical communities in the Asia Pacific region should take a lead role in driving digital innovation in broadcasting.

• Mr. Shashi set the tone for the conference on digital broadcasting symposium.