On November 1, 2023, a delegation of seven members including Peter MacAvock, Chairman of the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) organization, Elfed Howells, Chairman of the DVB Promotion and Communication Department (DVB PCM), and Paul Higgs, Chairman of the DVB Internet Technology Working Group (DVB TM-I), visited the Institute of Broadcasting Science. The Vice President of the Institute, Sheng Zhifan, along with relevant personnel from the Television Research Institute, participated in the discussions.
Elfed Howells, Chairman of DVB PCM, provided a detailed overview of the current development of DVB standards in areas such as internet-based service discovery, low-latency network transmission, multicast network transmission, native IP broadcasting, and audio-visual broadcasting, including standards like DVB-I, DVB-DASH, and DVB-AVC. Peter MacAvock, Chairman of DVB, expressed gratitude for the Institute's prior support of DVB's work and hoped to deepen future collaboration with the Institute to jointly promote the development and application of relevant standards.
Vice President Sheng Zhifan introduced the Institute's research in areas such as "Future Television" and TVOS, discussing the potential integration of TVOS with DVB-I and expressing the Institute's willingness to strengthen cooperation with DVB. In the future, the Institute will further leverage its role as a DVB member organization to jointly advance the high-quality development of broadcasting and television.
On the morning of October 29, 2023, the Technical Committee of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) held elections. Following on-site nominations and voting, Vice President Sheng Zhifan was successfully elected as Vice Chairman of the ABU Technical Committee. His appointment reflects the Institute's technical influence in the Asia-Pacific region, enhancing its voice in international organizations and holding significant importance for promoting communication and exchange between Chinese and Asia-Pacific broadcasting and television institutions in the fields of broadcasting and online audiovisual media.
Sheng Zhifan
Vice President of the Institute of Broadcasting Science, Communist Party Member
From July 1988 to July 1996, he worked at the Broadcasting Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television, serving as an engineer, senior engineer, and director of the HDTV laboratory. During this period, from June 1990 to June 1991, he participated in poverty alleviation work in Pingshan County, Hebei Province. He led the research on the major project of the "Eighth Five-Year" Science and Technology Key Project on HDTV, which won the National "Eighth Five-Year" Science and Technology Key Achievement Award. From August 1996 to July 2004, he studied and worked in the United States, holding positions as manager, technical consultant, and senior manager at companies such as GTE and Verizon, Cisco, and Nortel, as well as Comcast. While at GTE, he contributed significantly to the first open broadband access project for cable television networks in the U.S., known as "Open Access," and received the GTE President's Leadership Award in 1999. From August 2004 to October 2007, he served as Deputy Chief Engineer of China Cable Television Network Co., Ltd. From November 2007 to July 2014, he was the Director of the Technology and Standards Management Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television / National Press and Publication Administration. During this time, he received the Outstanding Contribution Award for Organizational Management in the National Science and Technology Program during the "Eleventh Five-Year" period. Since July 2014, he has been the Vice President of the Broadcasting Science Research Institute.
In November 2014, he became the Executive Vice President and Secretary-General of the Technical Working Committee of the China Radio, Film and Television Social Organization Federation. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, a Master's degree in Electronic Engineering from Princeton University, and an MBA from the University of Texas. He is a professor-level senior engineer.