MUMBAI: The National Association of Boradcasters (Nab) in the US has announced the formation of a long term technology advocacy programme.

The overall mission of the program will be to seek and facilitate development and commercialisation of new technologies that can be exploited by broadcasters

The multi-year, multi-million dollar program will be named Nab Fastroad (Flexible Advanced Services for Television and Radio On All Devices).

It is a product of the efforts of Nab’s Technology Advocacy Committee in accordance with the sustained priority placed on technology by Nab joint voard chairman Bruce Reese and Nav president and CEO David K. Rehr. Consisting of Nav Board members, the Nab Technology Advocacy Committee held its first meeting in March 2006 and subsequently conducted a year-long deliberative decision-making investigation, including briefings by outside consultants, economic and technical analysis of technology developments, and technical review of potential projects through a technology discovery group process.

Based on this work, the NAB Board of Directors decided unanimously in January 2007 to launch the program and NAB’s Executive Committee approved organisational details in late March.

Rehr says, "As we move into the digital era, the most successful local broadcasters will be those who continue serving the core audience in their local community while aggressively embracing new technologies to expand the reach of their high-value content. This programme will play a key role in the acceleration and adoption of new broadcast technologies and NAB is proud to spearhead its formation."

Nab Fastroad will be managed overall by a steering committee consisting of NAB executive staff, Board members and other representatives from Nab broadcast member organizations. Project selection and implementation will be handled by a technical committee of selected NAB member company engineers and staff from the NAB Science and Technology Department. Participation by NPR Laboratories and MSTV has also been established to coordinate with other ongoing technical programmes in the radio and television broadcasting sectors. The programme will principally concentrate on technologies and services related to over-the-air digital transmission.