On February 3, for the second time, the Diplomatic Council, a think tank with official consulting status with the UN social and economic council, honours the exclusive Global Media Innovator. The Innovator is not just another award. You are invited to take a look behind the scene
We are increasingly surrounded by media. Almost imperceptibly, they have become a normal feature in all aspects of our lives. “Disruption”, i.e. the disturbance of classic work and living processes, is one of the indicators of innovation that is overrunning us today. It is here that the Diplomatic Council’s (DC) “Global Media Forum” wants to have an effect. We want to be voices and set impulses. The “Global Media Innovator” is to be understood within this framework. It is not about simply creating another media prize – there are plenty of those already. The “Global Media Innovator” claims to be high-quality, important and exclusive and wants to set the standard. Each year there is only one “Innovator” and it is awarded independently and is designed to be convergent – regardless of technology, content or platforms – everything is taken into account. The only requirement is that the “Innovator” has the potential to sustainably change how we live and work.
It is very important that nobody can apply for the award. The Diplomatic Council has created an international board with top-class international analysts and industry leaders. The so-called “white list” is proposed by the organizations and networks that are behind our board members who then devote a lot of time and energy to identify the “Innovator”. Members of the board are: Rebecca Lieb, a very well-known analyst and speaker from New York – Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, COO of Malaysian digital and media industry agency MDEC – Ian Wightman, who is responsible at IHS in Austin/Texas, a globally active market research agency for media and technology issues – David Mercer of Strategy & Analytics, another global market research agency in Milton Keynes – Jo Groebel, the director of DDI in Berlin – Moeed Ahmad, heading Al Jazeera’s innovation department in Doha – ABN Africa’s CEO George Twumasi – and last but not least Canberra based Robin Eckermann, one of the founding fathers of today’s Australian telecommunications industry. I.E. Buddhi K. Athauda, DC founding president, is representing the DC on the board.
The nomination for “Innovator” comes as a complete surprise to him in an official notification email. The emblems of this award are equally exclusive. There is no award or trophy in the classical sense. Each “Innovator” receives an exclusive work of art created by the German-Belgian artist Ulrike Bolenz who is internationally known for works in museums and galleries like the Museum of Modern Art, MoMa. In 2016 Ulrike created the Plexiglas object “Icarus – Break Through”. In addition, the “Innovator” becomes a Fellow of the Diplomatic Council.
UK based digital compression pioneer V-Nova was the first Innovator, in 2016
On January 25th, 2016 the first Global Media Innovator was presented at the Diplomatic Council’s ALL NATIONS Gala at Grand Hotel Hessischer Hof in Frankfurt, Germany. The first honor went to V-Nova, a London based digital compression and video streaming pioneer that was represented by Executive Chairman Eric Achtmann and CEO Guido Meardi.
The board justifies its decision: „V-Nova is notable because it takes an approach to video compression which differs fundamentally from the MPEG-type approaches which have dominated digital video for the past 20 years or so, and which allows for a significant step forward in video network efficiency. The company has been around for five years and has built an impressive client base in this time, and has expanded its list of clients rapidly during the past year since going public. The technology allows firms to significantly improve the performance of video streaming over all types of network and for all levels of video quality. The reason for V-Nova’s importance is that video performance will remain one of the most challenging aspects of media delivery over the coming years, in all regions and across all networks. This will apply particularly to emerging regions where networks are less well established and dependent on wireless access. It will also be critical where next generation services such as ultra HD and virtual reality will put increased strain on network capacity.”
Initiated by the Diplomatic Council, a global think tank with official consulting status to the United Nations, the Global Media Innovator is a unique honor bestowed upon young, innovative companies having the potential to make a significant, positive global impact. Each year, an independent board of seven renowned senior industry leaders selects a single “Innovator” based on a white list of anonymous nominations provided by the Board Members’ organizations and networks. As there is no application process, the winner only finds out about the honor once the decision is announced.
