Digital Radio Mondiale DRM and AUB/UAR–Enhancing Distance Education to Africa Webinar

Digital Radio Mondiale DRM and AUB/UAR– Enhancing Distance Education to Africa

The DRM Consortium, in its first significant collaboration with the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB/UAR), is planning a joint interactive webinar session on July 9th (0900 - 1100 UTC).

The aim of the webinar is to share with technical staff, journalists/content creators of the major broadcasting African organisations and all those interested in education, the advantages and benefits of the only all-band digital audio broadcasting standard, DRM, and the role it can have in distance learning. Delivering both audio and visual content can be effectively done using DRM. This makes available information and education to everyone wherever they are, even in the most remote corners of this huge continent.

During the webinar the participants will learn how Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) can be as effective in delivering radio programmes as well as rich and tailored teaching material to millions of students who have no access to IP connections and related devices. The webinar will be theoretical but also practical and interactive. Its starting premise and conclusion are that DRM can deliver education and information to a maximum number of citizens in today's world. This unique initiative will take participants from the basic information on DRM to more detailed knowledge in a useful and practical way.

Ndjaka Grégoire, AUB/UAR Chief Executive Officer, sees this as an important event "because education is such an important challenge for all our members and the whole African continent. Being able to use the latest digital radio technology for delivering education and information is exactly what we are trying to promote and get engaged in."

This is a new challenge for the DRM Consortium which has engaged with African broadcasters before but, as DRM Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja, explained: "this is indeed a first for us and we hope that will serve as an introduction to DRM and its potential. With the support and involvement of African broadcasters, we can create a platform that could set an example not just for Africa but other parts of the world where delivering education to all is quite a mountain to climb, especially in these uncertain times."

The webinar will be held on July 9th 0900-1100 UTC.

Please register here :  https://www.uar-aub.org/aub-webinar  

About DRM

Digital Radio Mondiale™ (DRM) is the universal, openly standardised digital radio system for all broadcasting frequencies and coverage needs.

DRM on short, medium and long wave up to 30 MHz provides for the efficient coverage in large areas with at least FM quality, while significantly reducing power consumption. DRM in the FM & VHF bands above 30 MHz enables flexible local and regional broadcaster-controlled services, with up to 3 stereo audio programmes plus multimedia components in half the bandwidth of a single analogue FM signal.

Advanced radio functionality thanks to DRM comprises: More services based on the highly efficient audio codec MPEG xHE-AAC and free-to-air Journaline multi-lingual text information, detailed service signalling, service linking (including to analogue AM/FM services) and DRM EWF – Emergency Warning Functionality. Enhanced DRM features include native Unicode support, station logos via SPI, Slideshow images and traffic and travel information.

The DRM Consortium was awarded by ITU for its outstanding contribution to the Telecommunications sector over the past years and has signed the EBU Smart Radio Memorandum that promotes access to free to air radio on all devices.

For more information and DRM updates please visit www.drm.org or subscribe to DRM news by writing to pressoffice@drm.org

Go to www.drm.org/newsletters to subscribe to the general DRM newsletter or the special India Noticeboard with all the latest DRM news.

About AUB

The African Union of Broadcasting is a continental organization created in November 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria in replacement of the Union of African National Radio and Television (URTNA). Today the AUB is a professional body composed of National Radio and Television Organizations of African States that are committed to the development of all aspects of broadcasting in Africa. The AUB brings together more than 54 member organizations (Radio and TV) representing public and private broadcasters of the African continent.

The AUB enhances the promotion of the Radio as a main tool of communication. Also a permanent member of the World Radio Day committee in partnership with the UNESCO. Some of its other key actions are: the marketing of sporting events rights (CAF, FIFA…), the question of migration in the African continent, copyright issues and curb of climate change problems together with the United Nations for Disaster risk reduction.

AUB owns a Network of Programs and News Exchange "AUBvision"; this network has given an ideal occasion for all members, partners of the AUB to exchange their contents and tell their stories to the entire world.

Inasmuch as trainings are concerned, 

- In Casablanca, Morocco the AUB with 2M Soread, jointly organized in April 2018, a training on the use of Smartphones for Media coverage;

- In Algeria, November 2018 a training on the technics of digital and terrestrial transmission was organized together with the Algerian Television (TDA);

- More so, the AUB has launched a training session with ASBU for its members on the utilization of the Platform of Network of Programs and News exchange. 

The opportunity is given to our members to be up to the task of using new technologies and producing quality and quantity content which portray the real image of Africa.

- And with the Republic of Egypt, the AUB organizes yearly trainings for programmers and all other fields of the broadcasting Industry

For more detail please visit https://www.uar-aub.org/

(Press Release)