Last week we held the latest IPTC member meeting, the IPTC Autumn Meeting 2024. With over 80 attendees, it was a great success. We heard from IPTC members and invited guests on new developments in the world of media technology and metadata.

Speakers from Axel Springer, Reuters, Global Media Registry and the EBU

We heard from Axel Springer who have implemented an internal video management system based on IPTC Video Metadata Hub as a metadata model; from Reuters who are basing their live events streaming API on the forthcoming DPP Live Production Exchange (DPP LPX) protocol based on the recently approved ninjs 3.0, from Global Media Registry who are developing a “Unique Media ID” standard to identify media publishers, and from the EBU on the Trusted European Media Data Space (TEMS) project.

Committees and Working Groups

Our new Media Provenance Committee and its Working Groups are working very hard on the details for implementing C2PA in the media industry, including launching the IPTC Origin Verified News Publisher List. We also heard from Tessa Sproule of CBC / Radio Canada on their implementation of C2PA.

Our Standards Committee Working Groups are also working hard, with new developments on all of our standards and three new standard versions, as described below.

New Versions of Sport Schema, ninjs and Photo Metadata

The Standards Committee approved three new standard versions at its meeting on Wednesday 2nd October.

IPTC Sport Schema version 1.1 was approved, adding a Club class so we can model Clubs that contain multiple Teams, even teams that play different sports (who knew that Bayern Munich had a chess team?!). The update also added Associate relationships for individual athletes (such as a coach for a tennis player or a boxer), and facets for sports so we can now declare that an event was a women’s 200 metres breaststroke swimming event using IPTC facets metadata taken from our NewsCodes sports facet vocabulary.

IPTC Photo Metadata Standard version 2024.1 modifies the text of the Keywords property to broaden its scope, matching current industry usage.

IPTC’s JSON standard for news ninjs version 3.0 was also approved, adding requirements for the DPP LPX project including events and planning information, plus renditions support for live event streams. The 3.0 version of the standard also moves property names to “camelCase”, which is the de facto standard for GraphQL and many other JSON-based technologies.

All three updates, plus the NewsML-G2 v2.34_2 errata update, will be released in the coming weeks.

The IPTC is excited to announce that the IPTC Autumn Meeting 2024 is fast approaching, taking place from Monday September 30 to Wednesday October 2. This year’s event will be held virtually, providing IPTC members with the opportunity to stay informed and connected with industry leaders, no matter their location.

The Autumn Meeting will focus on the latest innovations in news metadata, standards, and tools that are shaping the future of digital content and journalism.

One of the key highlights of the meeting will be presentations by IPTC’s various Working Groups. These sessions will dive deep into advancements in metadata standards, addressing challenges like improving interoperability and adapting to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in media.

Another focal point of the event will be updates on how new and existing IPTC standards like NewsML-G2, ninjs, Video Metadata Hub are helping news and media organisations to streamline the exchange of information. These tools play a critical role in ensuring that news content is delivered in a trusted and structured manner across platforms.

In addition to the technical presentations, the meeting will also feature case studies from IPTC member organizations. These will explore innovative uses of IPTC standards, such as the DPP Live Production Exchange project and the TEMS Trusted European Media Data Space.

The new IPTC Media Provenance Committee will come together to present to IPTC members recent activity in the working groups on Governance, Best Practices and Advocacy & Education around implementing media provenance technologies such as C2PA in newsrooms and media publishing workflows. We will hear from members such as CBC / Radio Canada on how these standards are helping media companies tackle issues like misinformation and content verification.

The event also includes the official IPTC Annual General Meeting (AGM), where Voting Members will participate in elections for the IPTC Board of Directors and vote on important decisions regarding the management of IPTC. The AGM is a great opportunity for members to shape the future direction of IPTC and its work on evolving industry standards.

The IPTC Standards Committee will meet to vote on proposed new standards from several working groups, including new versions of ninjs, NewsML-G2 and IPTC Sport Schema.

As always, registration for the IPTC Autumn Meeting is free for IPTC members. It’s an unmissable chance to engage with cutting-edge developments in the industry and collaborate with fellow professionals committed to improving news and media standards worldwide.

For more information and to register, visit IPTC Autumn Meeting 2024.