BBC TECHNOLOGY DATA MODEL FOR MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT

BBC Technology have pledged to help other organisations implement the Standard Media Exchange Framework, (SMEF) which has now gained over a hundred licensees across broadcasting, suppliers and standards bodies.
The BBC decided to make their enterprise data model for Media Asset Management available to other users under a no-signature, no-fee licence a year ago.
Known as SMEF the intention is to define all the information required to manage media assets and services from commissioning to delivery to the home. The media industry refers to this data as metadata and expects to be able to embed some of it in new and emerging video and audio formats.
The BBC published SMEF as a best practice model for implementing metadata and system integration, to encourage industry development of solutions. SMEF won the Royal Television Society's Technology Innovation R&D award in November last year.
Organisations interested the SMEF model include other broadcasters, suppliers, standards bodies and consultancies. Companies such as Arthur Andersen, Channel 5 Broadcasting, KPMG Consulting, Reuters, RTE, Dow Jones and Techmath have all taken licences and received the relevant documentation.
Andy Lewis, Director of Consulting and Projects at BBC Technology, said: "The BBC are very gratified that their work in this field is being welcomed by the industry. Now BBC Technology have launched as a commercial subsidiary, we are well positioned to help other organisations implement SMEF as part of their Media Asset Management and media workflow propositions. This has become an increasingly significant issue as a whole range of organisations grapple with issues of content management in a new media age." (CD)