Broadcasters around the world want to play it again, if they can find their material. They want to know if they have the rights to play it again. And they want to re-purpose their material for Internet play.
Enter G-SAM (Global Society for Asset Management). Formed at NAB2003, G-SAM had its European debut at IBC. It’s a global trade association dedicated to accelerating the uptake of asset management technologies. In six months, membership has grown to some 80 users and vendors, according to Adrian Scott, head of G-SAM Europe.
He stresses that G-SAM is not a standards-setting organization, although there will be cooperation with SMPTE and other standards groups. A number of G-SAM members exhibited at IBC, including Sun Microsystems, EMC, IBM, Avid Technology, Sony Data Systems, BBC Technology, and SGI. Founding members on the user side include ESPN, HBO, NBC, ABC, News Corp., Sony Pictures and Universal Studios.
“Assets have a nomenclature problem,” Scott says. “Asset management answers the question so often heard at television newsrooms, ‘Where’s my stuff?’” He prefers an analogy. Asset management is not a part of the jigsaw puzzle. It is a table on which the puzzle rests. Without the table, the puzzle can’t be solved. “Today, we are focused on working together interactively to support each other and to move the standards for building, implementing and using Digital A Management systems worldwide,” he added.
“The need for asset management, obvious for a long time, has been made more-so by the increasing complexities of digital workflow and increasing demands of enterprise storage –the world is getting larger,” said Peter Fasciano, co-founded of Avid. “G-SAM will help us in navigating this larger world and finding our way to a much-needed common solution.”
Aside from focusing on standards and interoperability between enterprise systems, the organization will undertake industry research for members, executive learning and the sharing of global best practices in asset management. Along these lines, G-SAM has organized a conference in New York City Nov. 10-11. In addition, G-SAM has been invited to help organize an asset management pavilion at NAB2004 in Las Vegas.
Details of G-SAM activities can be found on its web site: www.g-sam.org.
