Groundbreaking webcast extends global reach of major telecoms event

For the first time, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is live webcasting the action from the Forum of its World Telecom 2009 event, opening key sessions up to more than 100,000 ICT executives worldwide.

Billed as “the defining event for the ICT community”, World Telecom, which is currently taking place at Pal Expo in Geneva, combines an exhibition with a forum and key networking opportunities. It attracts thousands of delegates from across the globe, keen to keep abreast of the latest telecoms technology and issues.

In addition to the ITUTelecomTV service, which broadcasts news on the event itself, this year the ITU is providing live coverage of the main Forum. Featuring debate on the future of the global ICT sector, the Forum plays host to heads of state, ministers, regulators and industry chief executives, who have converged on Geneva this week.
 
The service will be delivered over a web 2.0 streaming media platform, which will allow viewers to switch between three simultaneous live feeds. They can also join the debate by posting questions through the ITUTelecomTV platform at www.itutelecomtv.com
 
The platform, developed in partnership with Decisive Media, the producers of ITUTelecomTV, is a recognition of the current climate of restricted travel and the underlying drive for sustainability.
 
It is allowing the ITU to engage its stakeholders in key debate and discussion, without the need to travel, using the power of the network and the collaborative nature of new web 2.0 platforms to make World Telecom 2009 a truly global event.
 
The service, which launched at 9am Central European Time on Monday 5 October, continues today, and is available to the entire ITU and ITUTelecomTV communities of more 100,000 ICT executives across the globe.

“While travel and marketing budgets are tight, and drives for sustainable solutions are at the forefront of corporate agendas, we have delivered an online experience for the organisers of ITU World 2009 that allows those who would otherwise attend the event to view and interact with the conference sessions through live video streams without actually having to travel,” said Charlie Pyper, chief technology officer at Decisive Media Group.

“The ITU is one of many organisers that have been in touch with us to establish how we can extract as much value as possible from their events in these challenging times by using the internet, while at the same time looking at sponsorship opportunities that can establish a significant return on investment.”

Although the ICT sector tends to lead the field when it comes to adopting the latest technology, there is obvious potential for this approach to be rolled out across other industry sectors. So surely it can’t be too long before event organisers wake up to the benefits the internet can bring to extending the reach and broadening key debates for major exhibitions and conferences.

The ITU World Telecom 2009 Forum webcasts can be viewed at www.itutelecomtv.com
For more information, visit www.telecomtv.com