MODIBEC builds on successfully completed project for the future

The objective of the MODIBEC project has been to promote and support RTD cooperation between the EU and China in the area of digital broadcasting technologies — especially the convergence with mobile communications. Coordinated by ERTICO -ITS Europe, MODIBEC has brought together 14 Partners from Industry, Public Authorities and Standardisation Organisations. The two-year project will run until the end of 2008 and has been funded through the European Commission Directorate-General Information Society and Media.

MODIBEC’s main purpose was to examine the field of Digital Mobile Broadcasting within China and Europe, to define technology standards, stakeholder’s interests as well as to establish areas of potential future innovative research and cooperation.

Based on three local workshops in the Mega-Cities Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (all with 32 Mio of 1,3 Billion Chinese inhabitants) and the results of a study involving the relevant stakeholders, the consortium was able to present relevant findings on Chinese national market trends. Furthermore, workshops held in Beijing and Brussels in 2008 confirmed the defined priority areas for future cooperation.

Key results of MODIBEC: networks and awareness of mutual benefits

The MODIBEC project has gained broad support among stakeholders and there is now a momentum that could be used for future cooperation projects in the field. A strong commitment from the Chinese partners would be required, in mobilising the necessary experts, creating political will and supporting the development of the convergence of digital broadcasting with mobile communications technologies.

The project has found a high potential for the exploitation of mobile broadcasting technologies in China, and a solid business case, too. There is a strong demand and a need to combine home-grown with international technologies. European industry, SMEs and the research sector have shown great interest to cooperate with China and participate in mobile broadcasting development.

MODIBEC has achieved a number of important results, which could be built upon in future projects, in order to further develop mobile broadcasting technologies in China:

• the definition of priority areas for mobile broadcasting cooperation where there is mutual interest to cooperate and drive forward progress
• key networks built up and expression of interest for developing projects to work together on priority mobile broadcasting topics
• awareness of the European Commission initiative in China and the possible deployment of European technologies in China - amongst public authorities, industry, academia and SMEs alike
• awareness of China’s needs, priorities and wider policy context by EU stakeholders, such as policy makers, road operators, industry, research, associations and SMEs
• identification of a strong demand of both Europe and China to cooperate within this domain
• input from a broad stakeholder community on key future actions, and strong commitment from all partners.

Areas for future cooperation

The main research areas regarding convergence in digital broadcasting and mobile communications were identified on the basis of local workshops in three main Chinese regional business and research centres: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Through questionnaires distributed to both project partners and external research institutes, detailed insights on priority areas from a Chinese perspective were obtained. The overall picture was further completed by a number of workshops held in Beijing and in Brussels.

The research issues with the highest importance in China include business models, standardization, level of interactivity, frequency allocation and broadcast and communication infrastructure. These results confirm the views expressed by participants in their workshop presentations.

Outlook: What next for MODIBEC?

Several partners and non-partners have shown interest to continue the activities pursued by MODIBEC, with the aim of creating new projects under the European Commission’s FP7 funding scheme. The work of MODIBEC has brought a great interest among the partners and external entities. Some of them have suggested the continuation of the project activities with the creation of new projects to develop the priority areas identified.

Chinese-European cooperation in the field of digital broadcasting convergence clearly has the potential to create research and market opportunities for European industry in emerging markets. Technology transfer from Europe to China has already been facilitated in some cases (e.g. TMC). European researchers will also benefit from enhanced cooperation with Chinese partners and gain new insights in the field of mobile broadcasting.