The Asian-Pacific Broadcasting Union will stage the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2026 from Monday, March 30, to Thursday, April 2, at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Under the theme “The Rising Synthetic Era,” the four-day event will focus on how intelligent technologies, automation and data-driven production are reshaping broadcasting and media operations. According to the ABU, the symposium is designed to bring together broadcasters, technology suppliers and policy stakeholders to examine how synthetic and AI-enabled tools are moving from experimentation into day-to-day use.
ABU DBS 2026 will combine an international conference with an industry exhibition, alongside workshops and masterclasses aimed at practical implementation. Sessions will address areas including technology adoption, content production workflows, audience engagement strategies and the operational implications of automation and AI across radio, television and digital media.
Integrating synthetic and real-world broadcast systems
The ABU says the program will also explore business and collaboration models, examining how broadcasters can strengthen partnerships, develop new revenue streams, and future-proof their operations in a rapidly changing media environment. Speakers and participants are expected to include media executives, engineers, regulators, government representatives, academics and solution providers from across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
From an engineering and operations perspective, ABU DBS 2026 is expected to focus on the integration of synthetic and AI-enabled systems into real-world broadcast and audio infrastructures. Likely areas of discussion include automation in playout and scheduling, AI-assisted audio processing and voice technologies, hybrid broadcast-IP workflows and the use of data and metadata to optimize distribution across radio, streaming and podcast platforms. With workshops and masterclasses alongside the conference program, the event is positioned to address not only system architecture and interoperability but also reliability, scalability and long-term maintainability — issues central to senior technical decision-making in audio broadcasting.
You can find more details and register for the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2026 here.
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