PR No – 440
28th July, 2023
New Delhi
BIS to set up working group on standards in media and entertainment with PHDCCI
NEW DELHI: PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, organized a conference on Standards in Media and Entertainment at the Bureau of Indian Standards headquarters here on Thursday. Inaugurating the day-long conference, Mr Sanjay Pant, Deputy Director General of the Bureau announced setting up of working groups on the subject, in partnership with PHDCCI.
BIS, being the National Standards Body, has been mandated to take up formulation of standards in the 12 Champion Services Sectors identified by the Government of India for focused attention.
Audio visual services (Media and Entertainment Services Sector) is one of the Champion Service Sector and there is a need to develop relevant Indian Standards for it on priority basis for which a national committee has been formed of professionals and experts under Media and Entertainment (M&E) Services Sectional Committee (SSD 13).
The Chairman of the M&E Committee at BIS, Mr Sandeep Marwah, also Chairs the Entertainment & AVGC Committee of PHDCCI. Under the leadership of Mr Marwah, PHDCCI has been driving standards-related initiatives in M&E.
At the conference, he spoke about the urgent need for quality parameters in media and entertainment and benchmarking with international standards. Mr. Pant lauded the efforts of both PHDCCI and BIS in organizing the conference and bringing together a diversified set of experts from the media and entertainment industry.
Giving an overview of the system of standards which has been created by BIS, Mr Pant said that standards could mean different things for different people. Some had high individual standards which could be different from the standards followed by industry. There are regional standards, sector-specific standards, product-specific standards, national standards and international standards. After having establishing its reputation with the ISI and Hallmark of quality, BIS has now been tasked with setting standards for services also, since services account for more than 50 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Ms. Shalini S Sharma, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI, welcomed the speakers, dignitaries and delegates and explained the background to the conference as well as the work that PHDCCI is doing in media and entertainment. There were sessions on standards for skilling, standards for film exhibition and standards set by OTT for content viewing.
The session on skilling saw Mr Marwah talk about his institute, Asian Academy of Film and Television (AAFT), being the first in the country to start graduate level programmes on the subject. Since then, his institute has trained scores of artists and technicians for industry. Mr Rajiv Malik, Senior Director at Wacom India, the Japanese technology company which makes ipens and itablet devices which have replaced canvas and brush for artists and designers all over the world, spoke about the need for creating relevant platforms where students can learn as well as showcase their work. Wacom India provides such an ecosystem for artists and designers and the company also supported by the conference for PHDCCI. Among the other speakers in the skilling session were film director and producer Mr Ashok Tyagi and Mr R Jai Krishna, Secretary General of News Broadcasters Federation.
The session on standards for film exhibition was addressed by Dr. Mike Berry, Asia Head, Universal Pictures, Infrastructure Films & Studios and Mr. Ujwal Nirgukar, Founder, India Chapter of Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). Dr Berry spoke about the need for ensuring creative freedom and preserving the sanctity of the poetic licence that content creators have. Mr Nirgudkar presented an overview of how technical standards in cinema and broadcasting evolved in India and how the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the India chapter of which he founded and has been heading for the last several years, has been spearheading the creation of standards for audio-visual services globally.
The session on OTT platforms saw presentations by two speakers. Mr. Baljeet Singh Chaddha, Founder – 9pm Films spoke about the new trend of documentary-style drama or stories inspired by real-life incidents which have become popular because of OTT platforms. He said the play between subscription-led growth and advertising led growth will be something to watch out for in coming times. Self-regulation, opportunity for new talent and scope for different formats of same content were some of the other pointers from his side.
Archita Jasani, Associate Vice-President, Eros Now highlighted the ease of content consumption which has been ensured by OTT platforms. She mentioned cord-cutting, personalization of content and binge-watching as new trends and standards in content consumption promoted by OTT platforms.
Mr. Sandeep Kanojia, Senior Director and Head Service Sector Department at BIS gave an insight into the work being done by the bureau on making standards for every sphere of economic activity. He also shared the history, evolution, functioning and working of the Bureau. Mr. Shivam Soni, Assistant Director explained about the five standards which have already been created by the Bureau for media and entertainment and those which are under the works.
Caption
(From left to right): Ms Shalini S Sharma, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI; Mr Ujwal Nirgudkar, Founder, India Chapter of Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE); Mr Sanjay Pant, Deputy Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards; Mr Sandeep Kanojia, Senior Director and Head, Services Sector Division, BIS; Mr Sandeep Marwah, Chairman, Entertainment and AVGC Committee, PHDCCI and Mr Alfredo Caldera, Charge d’Affairs, Embassy of Venezuela at the Conference on Standards in Media and Entertainment organised by PHDCCI and BIS at the BIS headquarters in New Delhi on July 27.
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Warm Regards,
Media Division
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry