AMSTERDAM—IBC today released the shortlist of candidates under consideration for this year’s Innovation and Social Impact Awards to be presented Sept. 17 during IBC 2023 at the Rai Amsterdam.
The IBC Innovation Awards recognize collaboration on solutions development that address challenges in three areas: content creation, content distribution and content everywhere, while the Social Impact Awards honor projects that address industry diversity, inclusivity and environmental challenges, IBC organizers said.
“It is clear that the global pandemic has acted as a major catalyst for innovation in the content and technology industry, with this year’s finalists demonstrating many of the transformative new paths forward. All aspects of remote and sustainable operations have been accelerated, bringing an emphatic shift in emphasis from products and hardware to software and services,” said Fergal Ringrose, chair of the 2023 IBC Innovation Awards.
The Innovation Awards shortlist in the Content Creation category includes:
- Fox Sports live multi-camera extended reality (XR) set, replacing the existing NFL on Fox set in Los Angeles.
- RTVE Spain for Hiperia, its first audiovisual content created 100% by artificial intelligence.
- The BBC and partners for the world’s largest pop-up 5G standalone non-public network for live broadcast contributions using shared spectrum, deployed for the Coronation of HM King Charles III.
- Riot Games for its Remote Broadcast Centre, Project Stryker, powered by AWS, a groundbreaking approach to esports content production and broadcasting.
- Formula E for its onboard in-car broadcasting technology with Timeline Television and Domo Broadcast Systems.
Finalist in the Content Distribution category include:
- ITV UK for introducing AI-led automation of segmentation and QC workflows with Prime Focus Technologies.
- Cellcom Israel, which joined forces with Viaccess-Orca and Broadpeak to stream live sports with super-low latency.
- TelevisaUnivision, harnessing LTN live event versioning technology to deliver language-tailored live sports coverage on ViX, its streaming platform for global Spanish-speaking audiences.
- Sky Group cloud-native software playout platform for the origination of linear content TV channels across European territories.
The IBC Innovation Awards ceremony will also include recognition of the Best Technical Paper from the conference and presentation of a Special Award. In addition, the IBC International Honor for Excellence, which goes to an individual or organization which has made an outstanding impact over an extended period, will also be presented at the ceremony.
Content Everywhere finalists include:
- SPORT TV APP, which captured a new level of audience engagement for the Portuguese sports broadcaster.
- Sky Sports for the first-time delivered full access to Formula 1 onboard cameras and launched the new Battle Channel.
- KAN, which changed the way Israel watches World Cup Qatar 2022 and Eurovision 2023 with Sport BUFF real-time interactive engagement.
- TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport), which looked to the cloud to create a significant broadcasting milestone for UEFA Youth League.
The Social Impact Awards have become part of the Changemakers program, which focuses on initiatives aimed at making the industry more equitable, inclusive, accessible and green.
The finalists in the Social Impact category include:
- Afghanistan International Radio, a platform that has amplified the voices of Afghan women, sharing their stories.
- RTVE, which used AI to provide local election news coverage of nearly 5,000 small Spanish municipalities.
- Stellenbosch University and Intelsat, which are leveraging satellite technology to expand the reach and richness of higher education.
- BBC Research & Development’s Human Values project, which provides tools to understand how content affects the well-being and values of the user.
Environment and Sustainability finalists include:
- Iron Mountain Data Centers, which are on the path to using 100% locally sourced clean electricity all of the time to make their operations carbon free.
- Seagate, which extended the life of more than 1 million hard disk drives and solid-state drives through its refurbishment and circularity program in 2022.
- 4MOD’s Life Cycle Assessment process, which integrates LCA data-driven decisions into its operations, ensuring continual improvement in the environmental impacts of products and services.
- Love Island’s partnership with eBay, which inspired sustainable shopping among a huge audience.
The finalists for Diversity and Inclusion projects include:
- The MAMA Youth Project, which supports motivated and under-represented young adults into sustained employment in the media.
- SWI swissinfo.ch, which has introduced a data-driven process to evaluate the use of inclusive language in its multi-lingual digital newsroom.
- ScreenCraft Works, a global community for under-represented film and TV professionals with cross-border mentorship at its heart.
The Innovation Awards will be announced in a ceremony in IBC’s Premier Lounge at 6 p.m. CEST Sept. 17. The Social Impact Awards, part of the IBC2023 Changemakers Program, will be held the same day at 5 p.m. CEST in The Forum.
More information is available on the IBC website.
