InfoComm International

January 2011

Asia-Pacific Update

Contact Andy
+65.62386478 email

A Message from Regional Director Andy Tan

Dear InfoComm Members,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I want to take this opportunity to wish one and all every success and prosperity in their business endeavors in this new year.

How does the year 2011 and beyond look? What will be the changes or shift in the AV businesses?

In a recent article by Dr. Randy A. Lemke, Ph.D. Executive Director and CEO, InfoComm International, From Boxes to Net-Centric AV, he writes, “The change will come from two areas, as it usually does: The customer will change and the technology will change. The technology has already made much of the transition from our analog past to a digital future. Many say, and I would agree, that the long-predicted convergence has been completed. The final legs of that journey are in front of us, while customer change is not so far along. The demand for products comes from the end-user, and over time the other decision makers in an organization (facilities managers, central purchasing and now IT) have been significant gatekeepers. With the change in our technology and the demand for its connection to the network, the most significant gatekeeper is now IT. As such, the new Net-Centric Era of our industry will replace the stand-alone Systems Integration Era as the dominant mode of our industry, just as the Box Sales Era was eclipsed by systems integration.”

“There are opportunities in the net-centric world, and the AV industry will need to understand its contribution and its unique offerings. In the new world of cloud computing, managed services and all of what IT is looking to do, AV will still be at the interface between the systems and the end user. AV will need to employ and sharpen its knowledge of the human factors of communication so that when the digital signal gets reconverted back to analog for viewing and hearing, the AV industry can design the acoustics, produce intelligible sound, create images that can be seen and understood, and pull that all together in a room that makes it possible to communicate with people in the room and in facilities around the world.”

On the local scene, Kramer India AV Academy, which started in 2009, is dedicated and committed to educate the AV fraternity on the emerging trends and technologies of the AV industry through its various seminars and trainings. As a significant setup toward bringing up the AV standards in India, Kramer India has signed a curriculum licensing agreement with InfoComm International® to deliver the INS212 Installation Technician course for the year 2011. This course from InfoComm is designed for AV installers such as installation technicians, lead installation technicians, field engineers and projects managers of the AV industry. Through this training, the attendees will gain insight into best practices and techniques of rack building, equipment termination and other aspects of AV installation. Kramer India AV Academy plans to conduct a total of six INS212 Installation Technician courses during the year 2011. The first training will be held from 27 to 29 January 2011 in Bangalore.

InfoComm’s goal is to provide unprecedented year-round opportunities in your region and globally for the AV industry. We welcome members who wish to participate or support any InfoComm activities. Please email me at atan@infocomm.org for the Asia region or my colleague Jonathan at jseller@infocomm.org for the Oceania region.

Mark Your Calendar — InfoComm India RoadShow (New Delhi, The Lalit on 14 Feb. 2011 — Mumbai, Hyatt Regency on 16 Feb. 2011 — Bangalore, Le Meridien on 18 Feb. 2011) and InfoComm China in Beijing on 13-15 April 2011. For more details, please visit www.infocomm-china.com/en/.

The InfoComm Academy® Virtual Classroom is an interactive, online course combining real-time and self-paced study — a class you can attend from any location. If you want instructor-led content, peer collaboration and schedule flexibility, you might like the Virtual Classroom, and more of these classrooms will be offered this year. Check the course calendar to find out when these courses are available.

Last but not least, renew your CTS® credential before it expires. For more information, you can email Andy at atan@infocomm.org. In the Chinese Zodiac calendar, 2011 is Year of the Rabbit and forecasted to bring everyone bountiful returns.

Sincerely,
Andy Tan, CTS
Regional Director, Asia