ISLAMABAD, Sept 24: The ministry for science and technology, IT and telecom division has launched a project for the establishment of Multimedia Platform.

According to an official statement the Rs132 million project will be completed by Virtual University in one year’s time.

The project will set up a Multimedia Asset Management (MAM) system for storing, compiling and disseminating content over digital satellite broadcast television, internet and cable television channels.

The system will be capable of providing content on demand. The project will also set up an Earth Station for linking material for broadcast over satellite TV channels. The project will set up digital studio facilities at Lahore and studios of Allama Iqbal Open University will be used for Islamabad based productions.

The purpose of the project is to create an enabling environment for spreading IT education in the country via TV broadcast by satellite and existing cable TV distribution at affordable cost and to generate sufficient quality human resource as envisaged in the IT Action Plan.

It will provide a comprehensive infrastructure to facilitate the government human resource and social development initiatives programmes and IT related project by setting up content production, management and distribution facilities that includes TV studios and MAM system.

The multimedia project will not only facilitate the ongoing Virtual University programme but also provide a comprehensive mechanism and interface for other IT related programmes/projects of the country.

This infrastructure can also be used by private and public sector organizations on rental basis for educational purposes only for long-term sustainability of the project.

It is important that the educational content penetrates into every nook and corner of the country. Thus satellite broadcasting becomes the obvious choice as it can transport educational content throughout Pakistan. The interaction environment provided by the multimedia platform will complete closely with the conventional classroom experience.

The success of the proposed multimedia platform will ultimately result in providing quality IT education globally—thanks to the effective use of MAM coupled with the inherent advantage of satellite broadcast technology.