2 EDITORIAL

July 2018 ( volume 35 issue 6 )

EDITORIAL managing editor Shawn Liew , shawn @ editecintl . com contributing editor ( technology ) Karl K Rossiter , karl @ editecintl . com news editor Josephine Tan , josephine @ editecintl . com

While the world continues to change politically , culturally and technologically , some organisations remain stubbornly resistant to the very notion of change .

Why is that so ? For starters , change typically represents a deviation from well­ established workflow procedures that have worked well for many years . More importantly , there is the human element — change often includes disruptive upheavals that forcibly remove individuals from their comfort zones .

Where the broadcast and media industry is concerned , the transition to IP represents an eventual departure from one of the industry ’ s most widely-used and reliable technologies — SDI . Traditional broadcast engineers thus need to be re-trained in order for them to acquire the necessary skill sets to operate an IP network .

At the APB IP Master Class held last month in Singapore , one of the key points discussed was that although many broadcasters in Asia are not yet ready to deploy IP in their facilities , they should no longer procrastinate in getting on the learning curve .

Michel Proulx , the keynote presenter of the Master Class , advised : “ Even if now is not the time for you to deploy IP for real-time media in your facility , you need to get on the learning curve , and you need to gain experience and knowledge .”

Also making an appearance at the APB IP Master Class was Mock Pak Lum , former CTO of Singapore pay-TV operator StarHub , and now a senior adviser at Tembusu Partners , a Singapore-based private equity firm .

In offering blockchain technology as food for thought during the lunch break , Mock said blockchain as a technology has the potential to disrupt long-standing business models — and , more importantly , it would spark large-scale transformation of value and trust in much the same way the Internet did for the ICT business . Indeed , do not block out blockchain … In this issue , you can also read about how companies such as Vuulr and AllRites — both operating in the content distribution sphere — are already leveraging blockchain technology to support and address issues such as rights transactions , metadata , contractual availability , audience ratings and content piracy , among others .

Much like IP , there is much for the broadcast and media industry to learn about blockchain technology , and how it can be applied most effectively to their businesses . What broadcasters and media owners should not do , however , is completely block out the possibilities that these technologies can potentially bring for them .

Perhaps , we should also recall the visionary American who in 1997 , armed with the Think Different motto , changed irrevocably the way content and media is consumed — the brand is Apple and that man was Steve Jobs .

SHAWN LIEW MANAGING EDITOR

CORRESPONDENTS

■ India Shirish Nadkarni , shinads @ yahoo . co . uk

■ USA Mike Feazel , mfeazel @ gmail . com

PRODUCTION production editor Zuraini Ridzwan , zuraini @ editecintl . com junior sub-editor Eva Meango , eva @ editecintl . com senior multimedia designer Raymund Jaudian , raymund @ editecintl . com ad / office administrator Irene Lok , irene @ editecintl . com accounts manager Tan Hui Min , huimin @ editecintl . com

MARKETING chief marketing officer

Kylie Chua , kylie @ editecintl . com director - sales & marketing Jessie Tan , jessie @ editecintl . com manager - marketing Lynn Chee , lynn @ editecintl . com

CIRCULATION & PROMOTIONS circulation & promotions manager Lynn Chee , lynn @ editecintl . com

PUBLISHING publisher / editorial director Andrew Yeo , andrew @ editecintl . com

MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES

■ China

Yang Ou

BEIJING BUNCH EXHIBITION SERVICES LTD

Room 501 / B1 , Thunis Development Building , No . 11 Huixin East Street , Chaoyang District , Beijing 100029

Tel : + 86-10-6482 3808-106 Fax : + 86-10-6482 3670 E-mail : yangou @ bbes . com . cn

■ Japan Mikio Tsuchiya

WORLD MEDIA SERVICES INC 3-35-1-302 , Hongodai , Sakae-Ku , Yokohama 247-0008 Tel / Fax : + 81-45-891-1852 E-mail : mikio . tsuchiya @ worldmedia . jp

■ USA & Canada Gary L Rhodes SEDOR MEDIA INC

45 Florence Avenue , Leonardo , NJ 07737 , USA Tel : 1-848-757-2930 E-mail : sedorusa @ comcast . net

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