NAB Labs to Evolve into PILOT

NAB Labs, our innovation arm, will become PILOT, an initiative to bring together leading edge companies, organizations and educators to advance broadcast technology and broadcaster innovation. PILOT is honored to welcome Accenture, Akamai, Frankly, Google, Nielsen, Shareablee and Yahoo! to join with NAB as charter members of the initiative.
PILOT is designed to create a coalition of broadcasting and technology stakeholders, such as new media broadcasters, measurement and attribution companies, advertising partners and technology enablers. Among other goals, PILOT will drive creation and implementation of new technologies and solutions for the media industry through working groups and committees.

“As the definition of what it means to be a broadcaster broadens, it is critical to work with traditional and new media partners on innovations to better meet the needs of future generations of consumers,” said NAB Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny. “PILOT will build these partnerships among visionaries who share the goal of tackling the challenges and opportunities facing the broadcast industry in the 21st century. I am especially happy to have John Clark leading this effort and look forward to working with him to build an engaging future.”

PILOT will build on the innovation efforts of NAB Labs, a technology division of NAB created in 2012 to propel broadcast television and radio into the future. The division has been engaged in numerous innovation efforts such as the development of next-generation television and hybrid radio for smartphones.

Charter members of PILOT will help define key areas for development of innovative technologies and services for media companies with a focus on multi-platform digital distribution. As associate members of NAB, PILOT members will also participate in NAB technology program development, conventions and networking events.