Asset management is becoming increasingly important in today's IT-based production systems and several vendors have banded together to promote the viability and adaptation of the technology.
Citing complexity and lack of open standards for digital asset management, a new group, the Global Society for Asset Management (GSAM) made its debut at NAB2003. The organization includes Ascent Media Group, Artesia Technologies, Avid Technology, Rightsline and eMotion. The society says it is "completely independent and vendor-neutral," with branches in the U.S. Europe and Asia.
GSAM organizers say theirs is the first international trade association to target digital asset management. "Content is king, but only if you can manage it properly," says GSAM founder and executive director Richard Eberhart, who prior to his work with GSAM, was an executive with Blue Order, a European-based asset management company.
"Effective control of media and metadata is the key success factor for today's broadcasters and for a host of other businesses and the technology to allow this is still emerging. We feel there is a strong need for dialog and direction, and we aim to make GSAM a focus for this."
GSAM will not be an events coordinator, nor will it be a standards body, according to Eberhart, but will serve as an umbrella group for all aspects of activity and innovation in digital asset management. The organization offers Principal, Sponsor, Associate and Professional memberships to customers, vendors, integrators and individuals involved in digital asset management.
GSAM's goals include actively influencing standards that promote openness and interoperability between enterprise systems; reducing the complexity of digital asset management and providing a forum for sharing ideas.
More information is available at http://www.gsam.org
