Asia-Pacific diversity a strength, broadcasting summit told
The diversity of the Asia-pacific is not a threat but an opportunity, ABU Secretary-General Dr Javad Mottaghi has told the Connect Asia-Pacific summit in Thailand.
And he said the Connect Asia-Pacific Summit 2013 in Bangkok “created a movement mobilising member countries to move towards maximum connectivity in their societies”.
Dr Mottaghi said the ABU worked with diversity in populations, economies, cultures, policies, size, languages and technologies in the Asia-Pacific region, where there were Union members in developed countries with over 95 per cent Internet connectivity and some with 1 per cent Internet penetration.
There were countries that had already switched off analogue transmissions and were planning on Ultra-High Definition TV (UHDTV), while there are others that were still operating on analogue with rather old technologies.
“However, we believe that diversity is not a threat for the region but an opportunity for growth,” he said. “The ABU is doing its best to utilise the capacity of its members to address several important areas.”
He said in a complex, interconnected world, the ABU would serve its members better if everyone worked together with partners who were pulling in the same direction.
In a separate statement to the conference, ABU Director of Technology Dr Amal Punchihewa said the ABU was working on a number of projects that addressed current issues around information and communications technologies (ICTs). These included: capacity building on digitalisation to handle policies, regulation and human resources skills; providing expertise in new media technologies and Internet Protocol (IP) delivery; frequency and coverage planning and setting–up Emergency Warning Broadcasting Systems (EWBS) to save lives.
He added that – through face-to-face and online regional seminars and workshops – the ABU was helping broadcasters understand the implementation of digital broadcasting standards with careful planning and optimal use of scarce resources.