SINGAPORE--In just over a month, Asia's biggest annual infocomm technology (ICT) show Infocomm Media Business Exchange (imbX) will return to the island-state, boasting a bigger exhibition space and heightened focus on animation this year.
To be held over five days from Jun. 18 to 22, imbX 2007 is the collective brand for the series of tech exhibitions and conferences which includes CommunicAsia, EnterpriseIT, BroadcastAsia and iX Conference. This year will see the addition of CG Overdrive (Computer Graphics Overdrive), a conference--which debuted last year--for computer graphics and animation enthusiasts, and features various activities and discussions such as software clinics, digital art gallery and character animation, and CG cinematics for gamers.
imbX's event organizer Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) is expecting more than 67,000 delegates from over 100 countries at the show, almost half of which will be industry professionals from outside Singapore, SES Chief Executive Stephen Tan said Thursday at a pre-show media briefing. He added that some 28 percent of the visitors are expected to be C-level executives.
According to Tan, this year's exhibition floor space has also expanded to 72,000 square meters (sqm), compared to last year's 60,000 sqm, and will feature 2,320 exhibiting companies from 65 countries.
Business deals worth some US$9.35 billion were estimated to have been inked at last year's CommunicAsia, EnterpriseIT and BroadcastAsia, more than double the US$4.5 billion figure SES had anticipated before the shows commenced.
Tan declined to reveal the estimated value for next month's show, noting that his team is still collating data, but he added that the figure would likely surpass 2006's projections.
The Singapore government also used last year's conference as the launch pad for its 10-year infocomm roadmap dubbed Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015), detailing an ambitious plan to create 80,000 jobs and grow export revenue to S$60 billion (US$39.6 billion) for the local infocomm market by 2015.
According to Chan Yeng Kit, CEO of Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Dr Lee Boon Yang will provide an update on the progress of iN2015 during his opening address at imbX this year.
While he declined to offer any insight into what Dr Lee will be revealing, IDA's Chan did say that Wireless@SG--an initiative under iN2015--now boasts a subscriber base of over 400,000 and more than 2,800 hotspots across Singapore.
He added that for the first time this year, CommunicAsia will feature a 500 sqm-Infocomm Singapore Pavilion which will exhibit "made-by-Singapore" products and services.
The imbX Ministerial Forum on ICT 2007 will also see senior government officials discuss the impact of new technologies on socio-economic developments and public policy, Chan said. Themed Web 2.0: Rise of the empowered user this year, the ministerial forum is a closed-door meeting for dignitaries from the Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern regions.
imbX 2007 will also include discussions on IPTV (Internet Protocol Television), high-definition TV (HDTV), user-generated content and its influence on tradition media, Web 2.0 and content delivery.
Media Development Authority (MDA) CEO Christopher Chia said: "[Singapore] is well on its way toward HDTV deployment and adoption, with HD content and services already on cable and very soon, on IPTV. This, from just a year ago, when HDTV was virtually unknown and unheard of.
"New platforms of distributing content such as IPTV and mobile TV, are rapidly evolving and creating further opportunities for innovation and growth," he added.
Citing figures from analysts IDC and Gartner, Chia noted that the number of IPTV subscribers in Singapore is estimated to grow to 218,000 by 2010, while 75 percent of all mobile phones are expected to support digital music and 9 percent TV broadcasts.
Together with industry players, MDA will be showcasing new media standards including HDTV, IPTV and mobile TV at BroadcastAsia 2007, he said.
This year's imbX show will also feature luminaries from the global industry including Cory Ondrejka, CTO of Linden Lab, which created virtual world Second Life.
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