The Broadcast Open Development Exchange Initiative

With the advent of digital broadcast facilities, typical broadcast operations emulate more and more an Information Systems (IS) facility. This paradigm shift can be leveraged to the broadcaster´s advantage. Use of the World Wide Web serves the IS industry as a platform to share solutions, systems development and information.

"Broadcast Quality" gear has always maintained a distinction from regular consumer technology through a number of traditional features. Typically, premium broadcast quality equipment is delivered with "Service Manuals", essentially complete documents that allow for maintenance, repair, modification and system rework if, in a particular situation, the gear requires it. This distinguishing feature allows for the heavy use in exceptional conditions with long lifecycle and reliability.

As we now occupy the networked digital age, program production, storage and transmission are more and more based on digital systems. To this end the production and transmission facilities maintained at the state of the art are with few exceptions, totally digital, and under computer control. The data representing programs and data representing associated information, such as program date and content, are becoming distinguishable only as pure bandwidth. In order to access and manipulate the data which your programs have become you need software. The creation of this software has been an evolutionary process in lock step with the proprietary technology bases, which blossom eventually, into publicly accessible standards. Until now, you have been sensitive to this evolution because of the need to periodically retool with yet a new proprietary system in order to remain technically innovative. You may even share the feeling that getting what you want from technology always seems to elude you, your goals always appear one model release or upgrade away. Open Source Software changes all of this in a profound fashion. It changes the conditions under which you obtain the computer software you need to do your work. You get the tools for free. When you get the software, you get the source code, the "service manual" of this particular technology.

Following this model, Radio Free Asia´s Broadcast Open Development Exchange Initiative was launched to serve as an open platform to freely exchange information and technical development for the professional broadcast community.