Remarkable Array of Applications Shortlisted for IBC Awards

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The shortlist for the IBC Innovation Awards 2009 features an unprecedented breadth of applications, from locations spanning Europe, the USA and the Middle East – and even the bottom of the ocean. From a large number of nominations, the judges have selected three finalists in each of three categories: for most innovative use of technology in content creation, content management and content delivery. The IBC Innovation Awards, along with the IBC International Honour for Excellence and other special awards, are presented in a ceremony as part of IBC. This year's awards event takes place on Sunday 13 September at 18.30.

The IBC Innovation Awards are unique in celebrating not just technology but the application of that technology in the real world. Each nomination must be for a working solution, and the award itself goes not to the technology companies behind it but to the end user. Previous winners have included CNN for its backpack satellite system for journalists in war zones and the Disney 3D movie Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus.

"Because of their special nature, the IBC Innovation Awards have firmly established themselves as 'the ones to win', " said chair of the judges Michael Lumley. "The international judging panel have had the demanding job of coming up with a shortlist from an excellent range of quality entries. We have selected the most outstanding submissions, displaying innovative applications of technology."

The three projects selected for the final list in the content creation category could not be more different. Sports specialist ESPN is using a customised version of an EA computer game to recreate NFL plays on the studio floor; Océanopolis has worked with Boom Audio & Video to create a new underwater high-definition (HD) camera, capable of working at depths of up to 500 metres; and Expert TV in Moscow has created a tapeless, multi-platform, HD news operation with support from Media-Alliance and ISPA.

As might be expected, the finalists in the content management category all centre on making the enterprise more efficient and repurposing assets for future revenues. YLE in Finland has brought more than 50 years of archives together into a unified asset management solution with technology from Blue Order; RTBF in Belgium has created an integrated production workflow across television, radio and the web, thanks to a consortium of suppliers including Dalet, EVS, Orad, Avid, MediaGenix, Fairlight, Front Porch and FAB; and the Italian Mediaset group has focused on the challenges of repurposing content, in co-operation with lead supplier TXT Polymedia.

The shortlist for the content delivery award reflects the very different challenges facing the industry today. The Arab States Broadcasting Union, with members in 28 states, has introduced Menos, an IP-based satellite content exchange system, with the help of Newtec; TV Barrandov in the Czech Republic is now on air in HD using both DVB-T and IPTV, thanks to HaiVision with Mattes and MediaStream; and Virgin Media in the UK is using technology from Seachange to add advertising to its highly successful on-demand service at the point of delivery.

The judging panel is made up of leading journalists and editors from the specialist press around the world, under the chairmanship of Michael Lumley. As well as selecting the shortlists and the final winners in each of the three categories, they also have the power to award the Judges' Prize, which may be taken from one of these shortlists or can be another project which has attracted their attention during the year.

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