Al Jazeera Media Network’s (AJMN) ‘Future of Media – Leaders’ Summit’, being held under the patronage of its chairman Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani, opened yesterday.
International broadcast industry leaders, CIOs, ICT professionals and media experts are discussing how business and innovation are affecting the future of media.
The summit is described as the first of its kind in the region, on the model of similar events held in the Netherlands and Las Vegas.
Keynote speaker Paul Lee, partner and global head of research for the technology, media, and telecommunications industry at Deloitte, presented research about the ways digital and traditional media are complementing each other. “Digital transformation will never end, but it doesn’t need to be zero-sum disruption,” Lee said. “It doesn’t have to be them versus us; it can be them and us.”
Lee’s speech was followed by a panel discussion on how media organisations are adapting to digital transformation.
Mohamed Abuagla, CIO/CTO of AJMN, presented on how the organisation has constantly adapted to changing technology over its 20-year history. “Transformation has to be holistic, involving people, processes and technology,” he said. “To become more transformative, you need to become a service provider.”
The day’s other speakers included Rainer Kellerhals, Industry Lead for Media and Cable EMEA at Microsoft, who spoke on cloud and cognitive computing’s impact on newsrooms; Jeff Rosica, president and CMO of Avid Technologies, who discussed transforming and unifying workflows with a platform approach; and Delbert Parks, CIO of Sinclair Media Group, who closed the day with a case study about Sinclair’s digital reinvention of contribution and distribution.
The Summit concludes today. Al Jazeera executive director Dr Yaser Bisher will open with a presentation about the networks’s digital strategy. Mohamed Nanabhai, deputy CEO at Media Development Investment Fund, will deliver a keynote address on social media’s impact on media, content and audience.
Other speakers for the day include Haroon Meer, founder of Thinkst Applied Research; Ken Morse, Media CIO at Cisco Systems; and Mohamed Abuagla.