BBC releases future technology strategy roadmap

The Beeb under pressure to standardise and outsource technology to cut costs

The BBC has released a strategy roadmap outlining the objectives and principles on which it will base technology deployments over the next two to five years.

BBC CTO John Linwood said: "Technology change, audience expectation and competitive pressures mean that broadcast systems need to be increasingly agile, flexible and able to adapt quickly to new demands."

The four key areas outlined in the roadmap are:

• The core building blocks – ensuring the BBC has sustainable networking, telephony, storage and other core services needed to support growing demand across the BBC.
• Being connected and collaborative - breaking down the technology barriers to allow partners to work easily with the BBC, as well as support for flexible and remote working.
• Fostering innovation - embracing the growing capabilities of consumer devices for professional use and ensuring innovative technology can be developed and grown within the BBC.
• Delivering value - minimising customisation across technology, driving standardisation and use of commercial off-the-shelf products as much as possible.

The last point is key to the strategy given the competition from IPTV and other satellite broadcasters, as well as funding pressure from reduced licence fee revenues.

Late last year the government deferred a decision on whether the BBC licence fee will be "top-sliced" [taking money off the BBC through its licence fee and distributing it to other broadcasters]. "Top-slicing" the licence fee will be revisited by whoever is in power by 2012.

Given the closer links between the Sky media conglomerate and the Conservative Party, the licence fee looks likely to be cut if the Conservatives win this year's general election.

Linwood argued: "To enable the BBC to continue to provide audiences with innovative ways to enjoy our content, it is essential that we are tapped into the very best and most innovative technology inside and outside the corporation. To do this effectively we need a clear and open direction.”

That could mean a move to more outsourced services or services-based systems using cloud architectures, as well as adoption of more open and modular technologies allowing faster, more cost-effective integration between existing and new systems.

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