FEATURE
Broadcast TECH
Media hubs: Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 (above) and Glasgow’s Pacific Quay
UK’s internet peering points, 15 of 18, are just two miles away in Docklands, allowing the occupiers virtually no delay in the delivery and receipt of data. Data centre operator Infinity SDC will operate the UK’s most advanced and environmentally friendly data centre at approximately 260,000 sq ft, with maximum energy capacity of up to 90MW of power.”
Educational presence All of the existing hubs we’ve looked at play host to one or more broad- casters, and Poole reveals that iCity is in discussion with one at present. But an educational presence seems to be just as important. “From our beginnings, one of our
main areas of focus has been the industry’s need to develop the Arab talent pool,” says twofour54’s Borg. “With a dozen blue-chip media part- ners from around the world, includ- ing the BBC, Apple, Adobe and Thomson Reuters, our training acad- emy is helping to develop the talent the UAE and the region needs to sup- port a world-class media industry.” The University of the West of
Scotland is closely linked with the Creative Clyde project, and there are numerous training schemes being
32 | Broadcast TECH | September/October 2012
‘iCity will provide almost unlimited
run in the area by Film City Glasgow, Creative Scotland and BBC Scotland. Hackney Community College and Loughborough University are expected to deliver digital apprentice- ships and a postgraduate research centre respectively at iCity, while the University of Salford has created a new higher education centre at MediaCityUK, designed to accommo- date 1,700 students and staff. Munford says that other higher-
bandwidth’ Gavin Poole
education establishments will be feeding through as well. “There’s a wave of innovation and creativity coming onto the campus,” he says. “The broadcasters are tapping into that new generation of thinking. Having both on the campus has been a real bonus.” Games and animation companies
are a common presence at all the media hubs we’ve looked at, as are incubators, where innovative start- up businesses are supported and encouraged to develop new ideas. “We’re part of the whole convergent media scene,” says Munford. “Hav- ing a games lab here helps feed in new ideas and helps creativity, but it also helps when we want to develop innovative second-screen proposi- tions for our customers.”
TWOFOUR54
In 2008, the government of Abu Dhabi launched twofour54, a content creation community with the long- term objective of creating a sustain- able, Arabic media and creative industries for the region. “It is answer- ing the need for high-quality, locally relevant content made by Arabs for Arabs,” says twofour54 deputy chief executive and chief operating officer Wayne Borg. “Our Abu Dhabi-based campus is now home to more than 170 companies. These include sev- eral of the region’s and world’s largest and most influential content creation companies, including Ubisoft, Sky News Arabia, CNN, BBC, Financial Times, Thomson Reuters, Cartoon Network and Bloomberg.”
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils
MICHAEL BURNS
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