This year’s DRM General Assembly was held in Canada at the invitation of Nautel in a lovely spot near Halifax on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. DRM Chair, Ruxandra Obreja gives her impression of the event:
On Monday April 15th we had a full day of presentations and discussions. After a short overview of the many and varied successes and issues registered in 2012/2013 we went into more detail with technical, commercial and thematic presentations. The India Platform honorary Chair Mr Yogendra Pal was with us and he gave us a full presentation on the latest DRM roll out information from India. Our representative in Brazil, Marcelo Goedert, also prepared a presentation he delivered on Skype. The discussions on India, receivers, Brazil, some technical issues, good communication tools and general activity of the PO were quite long, frank and detailed, possibly more detailed than ever before. This also led to some interesting suggestions and decisions ,that felt this time very concrete. We feel that “receivers” is still the biggest issue. With the Indian developments, now is the time to really go from demonstrators to mass and choice.
On Tuesday the 16th we had a chance to see the Nautel factory and also be photographed with the first 300kW transmitter ready for shipping to India. We then returned to our conference room and looked at the expenses and the budget. All in good order but tight! At the end we took some decisions on future activities. Strategically we have also decided to keep Africa (especially South Africa) and Korea in focus. During the Steering Board meeting the agenda was full with discussions and decisions on technical updates and documents, receivers, future activity in India as well as the imminent DRM+ trials in Norway and France and the events in the next couple of months.
In conclusion this was a small but “perfectly formed” GA (we wish more of you could have been with us) and a very productive one. It is clear that a lot of DRM activity is going on and that we are at crucial point with the receivers and in a couple of key markets. All our members’ support and commitment was positively noted. We need it now more than ever. We also need more new members, more focus and at least the same ambition and hard work.
Ruxandra Obreja
DRM Chairman
