Remarkable Accomplishments as We Advance Our Initiatives Across the Globe

Welcome, colleagues, to the summer edition of the Journal. The work the Sections and Student Chapters have accomplished in the past three months has been extraordinary. The Society has either participated in or facilitated conferences, summits, seminars, and webinars all over the globe. From Australia to the U.K. to Canada and the U.S., SMPTE volunteers have made an impact throughout the industry. Whether it was the Standards Community’s Technology Committee meetings in Ottawa, the Hollywood Section participating in AfroAnimation, the Montreal Section conducting another successful boot camp, the Toronto Section’s annual barbecue and conference, the U.K. Section’s Media Technology Conference, or the Washington D.C. Section bringing back "Bits by the Bay" and honoring its founder Peter Wharton our Society is working to provide invaluable service to the industry worldwide. I really want to extend a special thanks to all the volunteer members who worked tirelessly to coordinate and make these events successful. Your hard work and dedication are truly appreciated.

The hard work of science never ends, and the Society has no time to rest. As an organization, we spend an inordinate amount of time testing and deciphering new technology and industry trends, as well as emerging and innovative ways to use technologies to advance the art of storytelling.

In this issue of the Journal, we examine the technology required to enable adaptive content and hyper-personalization of content. While these concepts are not new, today’s technology makes it easier for storytellers to integrate these options into their creative process. The use of algorithms and other computer science-related processes and methodologies, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to better understand how individuals engage and interact with content is just the beginning. The information gained by mining customer usage data allows content creators, broadcasters, and marketers to provide users with a form-fitting experience that is unique to them. Whether it is live translation into numerous languages simultaneously or creating a completely different story based on the customer’s likes or dislikes, the ability to adapt content and make it hyper-personalized to each individual is possible today. As with all advancements of this type, it opens the door for privacy questions and concerns. As members of the Society and the standards community come together to explore and advance the technology behind these capabilities, we will keep ethics, security, privacy, and responsibility at the forefront of everything we do.

I invite you to join us via our monthly webinars at some of the upcoming Section meetings, the International Broadcasters Conference (IBC) in September, and the SMPTE Media Technology Summit (MTS) in October, to name a few options. There are many ways to get involved with the Society, and I hope you find one that suits you. Enjoy this issue. Be well, Renard T. Jenkins.