Culture Minister hails UK innovation at DTG Taskforce launch
Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, today launched the DTG's Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce.
Speaking at the launch Ed Vaizey MP said: "The principal strength of the UK global television business is the domestic market and consumers' high expectations; a legacy of a robust public service broadcasting ethos combined with a competitive pay-tv market and an insatiable appetite for consumer electronics. Together these provide a valuable test bed for new technologies and ways of consuming media—and act as a catalyst for innovation. The UK has a long list of world firsts in television areas as diverse as information services like teletext, interactive TV like the red button, and on-demand services like BBC iPlayer."
"The UK television industry is proud of this long history of international collaboration and the weight of its contribution to the development of television technology worldwide and we need to ensure that this is supported by a capable and evolving digital infrastructure, with the right skills, that is accessible to all and sits in a regulatory environment that recognises and supports its value to the wider UK economy and wealth creation."
Chaired by Chairman of the DTG, David Docherty, and comprised of a small group of experts and thought leaders drawn from the content and technology sectors, the Taskforce will define the measures that should be implemented to leverage the UK's track record of innovating in television technology, in order to deliver sustainable UK economic growth.
Ed Vaizey speech and Q+A at launch event
Commenting on the Taskforce, Ed Vaizey MP said; "I welcome this work under the leadership of David Docherty at the Digital TV Group, who have done so much to support this innovation already. I hope that the taskforce's conclusions prove thought provoking and come up with a number of practical recommendations.
The UK has a long history of inventing but not capitalising on the long term market value of innovation; this will undoubtedly be one of the greater challenges for the Taskforce to resolve."
The Taskforce will also build on the work of the DTG's D-Book 7: the technical specification for Freeview HD and Connected TV. Based on the European connected TV standard HbbTV, the D-Book includes extensions for enhanced graphics, metadata, measurement and MHEG (red button) coexistence to bring it up to speed with the rapid development of UK technology.
The Taskforce's key findings and proposed solutions will be presented to industry at the DTG Summit in 2013.
Videos of the launch are available at dtg.org.uk/innovation.
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