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)