Exequo proposal for metadata standard implementation
NB this draft proposal has now evolved into: Exequo proposal for standard including 'pay to' data
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Exequo: "to make level"
who can actually do the work involved? what is likely and realistic budget allocation? how would goldsmith connection work if at all? should aggregation tools etc be included if so how? can the overall hook and explanations be made clearer and more appetising? if so, yes please!!!!
Summary
Exequo is a social enterprise that operates a service to manage digital video assets for NGO and related sectors. It has worked with transmission to develop and align metadata standards for video distribution. The technical improvements and delivery of metadata would offer an invaluable and innovative service to clients.
gavin says, more v soon...
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Developing and implementing a standardised metadata schema for internet video feeds, to meet clients' needs collaboratively to multiply visibility of their content.
- is this ok as a summary? please do improve!"
Background
“as the cost of distribution approaches zero, build services that empower individuals and increases the diversity of their reach”
Exequo is a social enterprise to facilitate online broadcasting by anyone, to anyone, globally. A physical network, it offers easy, multi-user management for video and audio content, and both live and on-demand video and audio distribution (streaming, downloading, bittorrents etc.)
This project is designed to embrace change over a long time-scale, and works pro-actively with practitioners to evolve the service, using free and open-source software wherever possible. The team is led by Gavin Starks and Anna Clayton who have over ten years of experience in online music and video distribution.
Exequo offers hosting to a growing community of online video projects including Big-Picture.tv, IFIwatch.tv, Undercurrents, Christian Aid and others. Exequo also participates in Transmission.cc, a network of citizen journalists, video makers, artists, researchers, programmers and web producers. The objective of Transmission is to make independent online video distribution possible (using FLOSS) by building the necessary tools, standards, documentation and social networks.
Innovation to Increase Visibility
Exequo is connected to the international Transmission network of online video distribution projects, which is developing a common metadata standard to exchange a clean, clear minimum of essential information between content management systems using standardised XML media feeds. Once finalised and implemented by Exequo and other Transmission participants, a new agreed standard built upon the best of existing practice, will enable automatic aggregation, sorting and redistribution of each others' media feeds, multiplying visibility many times over. This innovatin could even transform the way that video is published, accessed and presented on the internet, enabling media to reach interested audiences much more effectively than at present. Previous attempts to standardise metadata have failed, largely due to over-ambition and a top-down approach. To start this process on a small scale, immediate utility can be created for a specific test group of independent video projects already linked through Exequo and Transmission, and only after that begin to explore further application in broader online video communities.
Academic Collaboration
“building an open future from the ground-up requires new types of collaboration” Adnan Hadzi works with the interdisciplinary Goldsmiths Media Research Programme, which not only studies media spaces but also designs them to better understand their future potential. Media spaces are in a process of rapid transformation. If we want to understand the profound implication of these changes for public life and social relations, the key questions are empirical. Building on Zoe Young and Andre Spicer of Warwick Business School's documentation and analysis of the initial phases of Transmission's metadata standard development, Goldsmiths academics will reflect on the process so far and provide expert advice on the social, organisational and technical inputs required to take this project further.
Target
Exequo seeks to to
- Finalise, register and package the new Transmission metadata standard
- Technically implement the metadata standard across Exequo's client services, in liaison with others doing the same across the Transmission network.
- Promote the innovative standard as added value for Exequo's clients and collaborators, extend the standard's use into other systems and networks.
- is this about it?? any practical targets? figures or something?**
- what exactly is the deal with the academic connection..? it needs to be London-based, right (otherwise Andre and Warwick were keen..) and to channel £10k of the >£30 available at a time, is that right?
Requirements
- what staff and other costs will it realistically require??**
d::gen network are currently providing Exequo with 1 director, 1 project manager, 3 developers (+ interfacing with the open source community) and 1 designer. This in kind contribution is equivalent to a grant of £££***???
In addition, Exequo will need to hire the time of a project manager to take the work forward, networking and promoting the standard among exequo participants, and technical developers to develop and maintain the standard, that would include:
- maintaining and updating the standard, securing www validation service of the metadata standard
- reviewing discussion on relevant e-lists and at meetings
- bringing in more interested parties
- dealing with technical and political queries about the standard
- promoting the standard professionally, e.g. ensuring implementation of metadata standard in existing video podcasting modules to popular oss cms, like podpress (module into wordpress), video module into drupal, in aggregator2 module to drupal and others.
Budget
- to add up to £30 k**
project manager consultancy fee: 2 days a week for a year technical development fees: sundries
- need some info on Exequo's other income in kind from d-gen as counterpart funding... which should match the amount requested from LDA**
