ASEAN press publications seek to standardize technology

ASEAN press publications seek to standardize technology

JAKARTA (JP): News agencies and press publications in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened a meeting
here yesterday focused on standardizing their use of technology,
a move they see as vital to the exchange of news and information.

The meeting, organized by Antara, the Indonesian national news
agency, is part of the ASEAN Committee on Cultural and
Information.

The meeting will seek ways of standardizing the software and
hardware programs of the press publication agencies in the
region, including telecommunication technologies.

Director General for Press and Graphics Subrata said in his
keynote address that the meeting is very timely given the
challenges and opportunities now being offered by recent
technological developments.

The press will face immense challenges in the next 10 years,
both at home and globally, Subrata said.

"No nation can live in isolation or avoid having relations
with the countries around it," he said. "The concept of `one
world' is no longer a dream, it's a reality."

Communication technology also determines the pattern of
cooperation between nations, he added.

Antara Chairman Handjojo Nitimihardjo said in his opening
speech that the press publication agencies in ASEAN countries are
using different software and hardware programs because of rapidly
changing technology.

Although this new technology enhances the capabilities of
these agencies, the variety of systems being used also poses
difficulties in cooperation between them because their systems
are not compatible, Handjojo said.

This in turn affects the efficiency and flow of the news and
information exchange among ASEAN press publication agencies.

The meeting is being attended by representatives of the six
ASEAN member countries -- Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. (emb)