AMIA Announces Keynote Speakers for Digital Asset Symposium

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Tue, 10/20/2015 - 11:13 -- Nick Dager

The Association of Moving Image Archivists has enlisted keynote speakers Erik Weaver and John Downey for the Digital Asset Symposium, November 18-19 at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in Portland, Oregon. This year marks the first time that DAS will run simultaneously with AMIA’s Annual Conference, which takes place November 18-21.

Weaver will open DAS Wednesday evening with an in-depth look at the future of digital media, and Downey will focus on the future of storage and the cloud in the second keynote following lunch on Thursday.

Erik WeaverWeaver is a recognized expert on the intersection of the cloud with media and entertainment, and runs Project Cloud for The School of Cinematic Arts’ Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California. The project unites senior leaders from the six major studios in developing next generation cloud standards, supporting Hollywood organizations and major cloud vendors, and producing proof of concepts. The group encompasses many aspects of the cloud including transport, security, metadata, long-term storage, and formation of an agnostic framework that unites key vendors and studios. Previously, Weaver was CEO of Digital Ribbon, a very early pioneer in the field of cloud-based computing.

John DowneyDowney is founder and CEO of NextGen Storage, a company dedicated to accelerating the breadth and market adoption of next-generation, cloud-integrated storage technologies and services. In his role, Downey delivers thought leadership around data storage and data management technologies and their intersection with cloud computing. Prior to launching NextGen Storage, he managed enterprise storage strategies for Amazon Web Services.

Bringing DAS to Portland in conjunction with the annual conference and a half-day edition of The Reel Thing Technical Symposium creates a comprehensive, cross-discipline look at media preservation and access. Since 2007, DAS has been a unique forum for a broad range of experts from content creators, technologists, storage specialists, systems designers, and archivists who tackle similar media management challenges.

“Whether you work in archives, entertainment, gaming, law enforcement, education, or beyond, the challenges of handling digital content can be monumental,” said Tom Regal, vice president of Pro-Tek Vaults, who serves as DAS program chair. “The race to keep up with evolving technologies – and their impact on workflows, access, security, and content management – is universal. DAS is built around the idea that while our specific focus may be different, all of us working with digital media share core challenges and we can learn from each other.”

Additional speakers and session topics will be announced soon. For more information, visit www.das2015.org.

The Association of Moving Image Archivists www.amianet.org