S'pore ups showing at BroadcastAsia
SINGAPORE--Expect the "largest-ever" Singapore representation at this year's BroadcastAsia 2008 exhibition, says the Media Development Authority (MDA).
To be held under the collective brand of Infocomm Media Business Exchange (imbX) 2008 over Jun. 17 to 20, BroadcastAsia will be held alongside imbX's other exhibitions including CommunicAsia, EnterpriseIT and the iX conference.
Cassandra Tay, MDA's director of communications, said at a media conference Tuesday the Singapore pavilion will be seven times larger than the one last year, occupying 1,200 square meters.
It will also house 50 exhibiting Singapore companies, up from 41 last year, and is expected to attract some 68,000 trade attendees.
Stephen Tan, chief executive of imbX organizer Singapore Exhibition Services, said an estimated 65 percent of the 750 exhibiting companies will come from outside Asia, and that this proportion is similar to last year. "Europe and America are still a strong source of technical expertise," said Tan.
While Tan declined to speculate on the amount of deals expected to be made at the show, he said US$1.8 billion has already been declared as the "sourcing budget" that some pre-registered visitors are looking to spend.
Edmund Yong, chief technology officer of Innoxius Technologies, a Singapore-based company supplying DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) base stations, told ZDNet Asia he is not expecting to close many deals at the tradeshow. However, he is looking forward to establishing connections with broadcasters, which he hopes will take up the company's offerings.
Yong noted the market is still "not ready" for Innoxius' base stations, but sees potential for take-up once broadcasting of location-based content becomes commercially viable.
"We're looking [at] three to five years," he said, adding that the company is betting on that timeframe for adoption in public places such as malls and even on public transport.
According to Yong, most of Innoxius' business is currently being driven by consumers in Indonesia who are looking for specialized content.
The MDA last year pledged S$500 million (US$367 million) to fund research and development for the local interactive digital media industry between 2006 and 2011.