The SABC will set up audio processing facilities powered by Sybase's Adaptive Server Enterprise 11.92 to enable its 11 public service radio stations to broadcast reports on the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The facilities will be based at the Sandton Convention Centre, the Wanderers and Nasrec in Johannesburg for the duration of the summit, from 26 August to 4 September. The stations in the national radio network will reach an average daily audience of more than 20 million people.
The national broadcaster's digital radio broadcasting and news management solution, Dalet, supplied locally by Eminently More Suitable (EMS), is deployed on the Sybase database server, and Sybase SA has provided 17 complementary licences to facilitate reporting on events at the summit. Dalet's open architecture interfaces easily with third-party systems, and with its embedded ASE 11.9.2 database, the system enables integrated access to the SABC's disparate back-end systems.
"It is vital that SABC's reporting on the Summit meets international standards," says Theuns Nel, manager of radio digital systems at the SABC.
"The system will streamline our operations by providing immediate and easy access to news and information on the summit for all those involved in the production and broadcast process. Most importantly, the South African public will be able to tune in for the latest news and in-depth reporting we are providing as the national broadcaster."
As a central repository for all assets, the system enables information to be shared easily and quickly, allowing for the management of the numerous and often complex relationships that exist among media assets.
"We requested complementary database licences from Sybase for this purpose because we know from previous experience with reporting on government elections that Sybase ASE will provide us with the high availability, reliability and stability we require for this exercise," says Nel.
The systems set up at the various summit venues will be used to record happenings at the event and make these available to journalists and news editors around the country for broadcasting. Dalet's client-server architecture allows multiple users to access a common content warehouse.
For the purposes of the summit, workflow management and automation tools will help streamline the news acquisition to broadcast process and reduce the time and resources required to take the news to air. By enabling several users to simultaneously make live updates and modifications to the news items, these can be made immediately available to the broadcast studios nationwide.
"The World Summit in Johannesburg is a major opportunity for the world to move towards a sustainable future and calls for a new approach to development and international cooperation," says Julie Tomlinson, sales and marketing manager at Sybase SA. "We have built a solid partnership with EMS and the SABC and by making our technology available to the SABC, Sybase is doing its share to ensure that South Africans can be an integral part of this opportunity."
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