ABU members who attended the Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2024 (DBS2024) have praised the event for its wealth of knowledge as well as networking opportunities.

DBS204 took place between March 4 to 7 and was attended by nearly a thousand participants and 300 organisations from 50 countries. There were 22 sessions, consisting of 12 conferences, 8 workshops and 2 masterclasses. 

Almost 80 experts and speakers presented their ideas on 60 topics, all under this year’s theme ‘Navigating AI Horizon’, which explored the possibilities and challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and generative AI.

For Sharad Sadhu, it was the twentieth year that he had attended the DBS. Aside from being ABU’s former technology director, Sharad was also formerly director of engineering for satellite services at Doordarshan, India, as well as general manager of the Broadcast Engineering Division of Telecom Consultants India Ltd. He brought decades’ worth of expertise as a panel speaker at a few DBS2024 sessions, including one on sustainable and dynamic practices in media delivery.

He told ABU: “I am impressed by how DBS2024 has evolved and grown, stage by stage, over the years. There is more participation, different people, more industries, better programmes, new technology, new content creation methods, and new broadcasting updates as the time goes on.”

For Dr Mohieddin Moradi, Director General of the R&D unit at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), DBS2024 was an opportunity for him and his colleagues to bring knowledge back to their organisation. 

“DBS is a good opportunity to learn from different experts and different companies from all over the world who share their expertise about broadcast and broadband technologies,” he said. 

DBS2024 was a particularly timely event for IRIB, following ABU Secretary-General Ahmed Nadeem’s courtesy visit to the organisation in February. During the meeting, both organisations discussed content exchange, advanced training, co-productions, the sharing of technical expertise and joint ventures, and promised to strengthen their partnership and advance the broadcasting industry.

Aside from IRIB, other ABU member organisations in attendance were Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), Radio and Television of the People’s Republic of China (RTPRC), Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI), China Media Group (CMG), Whiteways Systems Pte Ltd (WW) and RT. 

RTM won the best booth award. 

In his concluding remarks at the end of DBS2024, Director of ABU Technology and Innovation Dr Veysel Binbay expressed appreciation to all who joined.