The ABU Programme Department’s brand-new initiative: ABU Media Lab Days – was unveiled in Bangkok on 16-17 December 2019 hosted by Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS). The first edition of ABU Media Lab Days brought together a group of more than 20 content creators, digital experts and  innovators from 10 countries to spend two days in Bangkok exchanging ideas, experiences and best practices in the digital field and to foster creativity and innovation across a wide variety of digital genres.

Developed in collaboration with WAN-IFRA’s Global Alliance for Media Innovation, ABU Media Lab Days is a series of curated encounters aimed to facilitate creative and meaningful dialogues among ABU Members and digital innovators to help them find new inspiration and to discuss new approaches that they are able to use back in their organisations.

“After four European editions of our own Media Labs Days, we are very honoured and proud to be part of this Asian edition organised by the ABU. It is so important for traditional media companies (from broadcasting and written press) to rethink the way they work and to try to collaborate more to find solutions together to common challenges. These workshop-type of events are a perfect opportunity to start this dialogue,” said Stephen Fozard, Project Director at WAN-IFRA’s Global Alliance for Media Innovation.

Over the course of two days, participants listened to inspirational talks from experts from Ireland, Singapore, Japan and Switzerland on a variety of topics including emerging digital platforms, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, data visualisation and interactive storytelling. Participants also pitched innovative ideas and projects they would like to develop at their respective organisations. The program also featured an interactive session in which participants exchanged ideas and experiences with the experts and a working session where they presented outlines of their project proposals and received feedback from the resource team.

“The ABU Media Lab programme in Bangkok was inspiring. Participants were fully engaged in exploring opportunities, challenges and new ideas. Discussions stimulated new approaches, insights and collaboration. We all learnt something. The most common theme was the need to really understand consumers, reach them on their terms and build a connection,” said Múirne Laffan, CEO and Founder of LaffanLABs, who was a co-facilitator of the programme.

With the Media Lab Days series, ABU hopes to inspire more of its members to begin experimentations of innovative digital projects within their organisations. Participating ABU members were RTB-Brunei, Thai PBS-Thailand, NBT-Thailand, ACORAB-Nepal and BBS-Bhutan. In addition, WAN-IFRA Members BERNAMA-Malaysia and Bangkok Post-Thailand also participated along with Chiang Mai University as an observer.