Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

AfricaCOM 2022: Taking the Pulse of Africa's Digital Transformation

28/11/2022

2022 will forever be the year that in-person events got back on their feet after two years in hibernation. As we've seen at all the events NAGRA has attended this year, the overwhelming desire to reconnect with colleagues and friends has been responsible for getting us all together again. The recent AfricaCOM expo, the flagship event of Africa's Tech Festival in Cape Town certainly supported this theory with our stand team reporting an atmosphere of curiosity and vibrancy that brought an unmistakably African vibe to proceedings.

Engaging with our stand visitors, we were struck by how keen everyone one was to get delayed projects moving again and learn how the challenges of a digital landscape so broad and diverse as Africa can be met with today's solutions. It was also great to reconnect with key partners to discuss the latest trends and review the projects we're jointly working on across Africa.

At our stand we ranged a number of solutions designed to respond to the questions of our visitors.

Hybrid OTT Streaming

Our Hybrid OTT streaming solutions showed the range of advanced features that can now be deployed quickly and simply onto retail-available hardware such as an Android TV set-top box. Powered by the NAGRA OpenTV Video Platform, our hybrid streaming solutions are used the world over by organizations looking to offer aggregated solutions driven by the great rebundling'. These solutions help operators deliver greater value by providing their subscribers with access to all the content they love via one central app - irrespective of the content's source or originating service. Our customer case studies of Starhub in Singapore and Claro in Colombia - who also added direct billing for Netflix to their service, attracted a lot of interest as new strategies and approaches were considered.

Direct-To-TV

For a continent where direct-to-TV solutions enjoy considerable success, we had a lot of discussions not only about our conditional access module (CAM) solutions but also our innovative TVkey solution which NAGRA created with Samsung. Deployed by HD+ in Ghana, it allows operators to tap into new distribution channels such as electrical retail and acquire subscribers through tantalizing offers as part of a new TV purchase. Also offering the ability to offer an identical user experience to that seen on a set-top box with the operator's brand front and center, there was a lot of discussion about how this can help address the challenges associated with reducing the cost to serve while still offering highly secure premium 4K content.

Protecting Revenues from Piracy

For those visitors who had already launched streaming propositions, there were a lot of conversations about how, as they rollout more premium content, the challenges get magnified as richer pickings are spotted by pirates. Themes such as CDN content theft, credential sharing and app protection were all discussed at length. The NAGRA Active Streaming Protection framework is designed to address the threats posed by streaming piracy. Featuring several different options and technologies, it aims, through a central security monitoring and analytics dashboard, to provide a clear, end-to-end view of the challenges facing the network. For today's streaming providers, multi-DRM isn't enough, and the distributed nature of OTT delivery means there are several aspects that need to be holistically considered to gain a true picture of the streaming piracy threat.

Growing Cybersecurity Threats

Our increasingly connected lifestyles mean that the attack surface area we expose to cyber criminals is considerable. But if you multiply that up and consider the surface area that operators are having to defend, the size of the challenge (and threat) is even larger. Add to this the dependency on the cloud and increasingly digital interactions with consumers and the shape of the new landscape is clear. For several operators that don't have in-house cyber teams, this is a daunting prospect and so our teams were happy to discuss how our holistic cyber protection solutions offer not only a focus on anti-piracy but also cybersecurity services such as incident response. These solutions focus on proactive approaches although when a reaction is necessary, our cyber fusion center teams respond instantly.

The team had a great time at AfricaCOM and as my colleague Mlu Mhlungu said, It's just great to be back chatting with people face to face and learning how we can help them continue to be successful. Our South Africa based team are looking forward to continuing the conversations started at AfricaCOM and are also excited to be moving to a new office in Cape Town in the New Year - if you're in the area, get in touch and we'll get the coffee on!
LINK: https://dtv.nagra.com/africacom-2022-taking-pulse-africas-digital-tran...
See more stories from nagra

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

07/07/2026

Disagreements Abound Over the Adequacy of C-Band Replacements

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Cameras Become More Connected to Production Workflows

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

NFL on TV: Time to Move the Regulatory Goal Posts?

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Building a Future-Ready Facility for Tomorrow's Broadcasters

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Rewriting the Control Room: How Broadcasters Are Going Remote

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Fincons Group appoints Andrea Fravega as Global BU Media...

The appointment will drive growth and innovation across the Media Business Unit Fincons Group, a leading IT business consultancy and systems integrator company...

07/07/2026

Big Blue Marble debuts next-gen ultra low latency MoQ str...

International broadcast and streaming expert Big Blue Marble has announced a multi-month Proof of Concept (PoC) for Media over QUIC (MoQ) during a major interna...

07/07/2026

Leader provides Test and Measurement for global broadcast...

Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, is proud to announce that two of its leading products, the PHABRIX Qx rasterizer and LeaderPhabrix L...

07/07/2026

Clear-Com Powers Ross Production Services Mobile Producti...

Clear-Com announced that Ross Production Services (RPS), a leading provider of mobile production solutions for live events and broadcasts, has standardized on ...

07/07/2026

Q Era Innovations Take Center Stage for LiveU at IBC2026

LiveU redefined live newsgathering with the invention of cellular bonding. At IBC2026, Stand 7.C24, the company will show how that foundation is evolving into t...

07/07/2026

Camera to Cloud Meets Camera to Timeline LucidLink Unifi...

LucidLink, a leader in cloud-based file services for content creators, today announced an enhanced workflow integration between LucidLink and Adobe Frame.io tha...

07/07/2026

Comcast's Sky to Acquire ITV Media and Entertainment

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Digital Alert Systems Details ATSC 3.0 EAS Capabilities to FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

New appointments to Screen Australia board

New appointments to Screen Australia board 7 July 2026 The Albanese Labor Government has made new appointments to the Screen Australia board. Dr Tania Chamber...

07/07/2026

The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck to their creative guns.

The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...

07/07/2026

July 06, 2026

Scripps Research scientists train the immune system to make antibodies against numerous HIV strains Preclinical findings mark progress toward a long-sought vacc...

06/07/2026

Inside OneSoccer's FIFA World Cup Ops: Canada's Soccer Network Goes Behind the Scenes for CanMNT's Historic Moment

Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...

06/07/2026

Lumine Group Acquires Imagine Communications, Continues To Build Portfolio of Media Businesses

The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...

06/07/2026

SVG All-Stars: Stuart Mitchell, Senior Coordinating Producer, Spectrum SportsNet LA

This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...

06/07/2026

Case Study: How IMS Productions and FOX Sports Scaled Coverage of the 109th Indianapolis 500

IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...

06/07/2026

Lumine Group Completes Acquisition of Synamedias Video Network Business

Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...

06/07/2026

NASCAR and Motorsport Network Announce Content and Commercial Partnership

NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...

06/07/2026

Versant To Acquire Full Swing for Approximately $530 Million

Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...

06/07/2026

DAZN Secures Global Rights to 3ICE Hockey

DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...

06/07/2026

Synth Anthology 5 From UVI

Bundle gains 100 new synths & more Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...

06/07/2026

MOTU 16A, 848 & 10pre gain Milan certification

Available now via free firmware update MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...

06/07/2026

Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Communications System

Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...

06/07/2026

The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the quality of packaged goods in real time

The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...

06/07/2026

INVITATION FOR SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKERS TO SUBMIT FILMS FOR THE 99TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (OSCARS) INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM CATEGORY

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...

06/07/2026

Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice President, Operations

Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...

06/07/2026

Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development

Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development Brie Clayton July 6, 2026 0 Comments The strategic new appointment supports...

06/07/2026

Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve

Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve Michael Cioni July 6, 2026 0 Comments This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...

06/07/2026

Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro

Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro Colin Smith July 6, 2026 0 Comments Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...

06/07/2026

Flavor's FirstEver Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Executive Producer Kate Smith Rises to Lead the Studio

Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...

06/07/2026

How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat

How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...

06/07/2026

Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with the first drop

Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...

06/07/2026

NVIDIA and Hugging Face Bring New Models and Frameworks to LeRobot for the Open Robotics Community

Open source AI has shown how quickly developers can innovate when models, data a...

06/07/2026

Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy

Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy intellisphereinsyght2026 6 July Written By Suzanne Costello Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...

06/07/2026

Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a commercial streaming champion for the UK

Monday 6 July 2026 Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...

06/07/2026

Pico Lopes joins RT's FIFA World Cup 2026 Live panel

Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...

06/07/2026

How Nations Are Deploying AI for Strategic Priorities

Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...

06/07/2026

How Open Models Are Driving AI Research

Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work. This year's ...

06/07/2026

New RT documentary The Girl in the Water follows one family's search for answers following the death of their 23-year-old daughter

A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained What happened to Ke...

05/07/2026

Fox Sports AR/XR Studio Graphics Team Shows Power of Next-Generation Operations

We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...

05/07/2026

Free Behringer Synth Editor

Browser-based and desktop apps available Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...

04/07/2026

Inside OneSoccers FIFA World Cup Ops: Canadas Soccer Network Goes Behind the Scenes for CanMNTs Historic Moment

When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...