The EBU's Digital Radio Summit is a firm fixture in the calendar for Europe's radio community, annually delivering a full day of ideas and inspiration. Next year's event, on Wednesday 12 February, will feature more speakers than ever before - it's a "must-attend" for anyone interested in radio technology and platforms.
The Director General of Swedish Radio will provide one of the keynote presentations. Cilla Benkö (below left) will address the question of how to transform an "old analogue" company into a digital organization that can thrive in a smart and social world. Swedish Radio has been a pioneer in embracing the possibilities of social media, but Sweden itself has been somewhat behind the curve on digital radio. That may now be changing.
The experience elsewhere in Europe has shown that a successful transition to digital radio also requires the involvement of commercial broadcasters; it's one of the central planks of the progress towards FM switch-off in Norway, for example. At the Digital Radio Summit Herbert Visser of RadioCorp BV in the Netherlands will provide a perspective on how commercial stations see radio platoforms evolving. And the Swiss plans for a digital migration will be outlined by Nancy Wayland Bigler (below right), of the Federal Office of Communications.
Elsewhere on the programme there will be quickfire updates from eight different countries on how digital radio is progressing and what lessons have been learned in the process. Presentations from IRT, BBC and Jaguar & Land Rover will examine some of the exciting developments with receiver technology, while the hot topic of whether eMBMS is a viable technology for radio networks will be explored by Teracom.
The day will be rounded off with the traditional updates from the standards associations, followed by a discussion covering all of the hot topics to emerge at the 2014 Summit. Download the programme and register now!