Contact: tsbevents@itu.int

Introduction

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organized a workshop on The Future of  Media which took place on 8 October 2019 in  ITU headquarters, in Geneva, Switzerland. The workshop was held in collocation with meetings of ITU-T Study Group 16 (Multimedia) (7-17 October  2019) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (7-11 October 2019)which took place at the same venue. 

Digital technology continues to transform the media landscape. Advances in multimedia have changed our world, revolutionizing entertainment, connecting friends and families around the globe, enriching our communications experiences and enabling major improvements in medical care and education.

But what are the prospects for the future of video and other media? What are the new technologies and forms of media entering the fold? 
How will innovations in fields such as virtual and augmented reality deliver highly immersive new media experiences? How will the emerging technology of artificial intelligence affect our use of media? And what are the new risks to be considered? 
How can we ensure that the future of media is accessible to people with visual impairments?
Will our increasing dependence on new media affect our ability to discern reality from fiction? How will we verify digital integrity to counteract the threat of manipulated content? 

These are among others,  the questions considered in the workshop.

Objectives
The workshop shared expert insight into the state of the art in multimedia as well as the new possibilities and associated challenges appearing on the horizon. Its main objective was to discuss the implications of the latest advances in multimedia for the international standardization work of IEC, ISO and ITU.     

It also contributes to the celebration of World Standards Day 2019, which this year takes the theme: ‘Video standards create a global stage’