The Ministerial Round Table at 10th World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum, held from  April 8-12, 2019, emphasized the importance of the WSIS Action Lines – on which many national digital agendas were built – as a key United Nations framework for progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Round T​​able participants also highlighted the need for sharing of ​​scarce resources, as well as stre​ngthening collaboration to build confidence and security in the use of technology for good and digital skills so more people can benefit.

The CABSAT 2019 conference, held in Dubai in March, brought together a wide variety of players from the satellite communications industry, namely satellite operators, service providers, broadcasters, and others. As one of the world’s premier satellite broadcast conferences, CABSAT has historically been just that — a predominantly satellite broadcast conference.

Arabsat 6A Satellite, the last of its 6th generation satellites, was successfully launched this morning by Space X’s Falcon Heavy from Cape Canaveral in Florida, completing the Falcon rocket’s first commercial launch.

The GVF-EMP Partnership has announced preliminary details of speakers for the next event in the partnership’s portfolio of market vertical focused satellite communications programmes – Oilfield Connectivity 2019: The Next Generation Digital Oilfield.

Taking place in the principal hub of Europe’s offshore oil industry, the City of Aberdeen, the programme will examine latest developments in the communications technologies, services and applications that are mission critical for the exploration and production connectivity ecosystem.

Arianespace has orbited the final four latest satellites in the first phase of SES’s O3b constellation. The launch took place on Thursday, April 4, at 2:03 pm (local time) from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana (South America).

Calian Group has acquired SatService, a solid player in the European satellite ground systems market, for euro €4.5 million or US$ 5.05 million.

NAB Show, the world’s largest annual conference and expo for professionals who create, manage, and distribute entertainment across all platforms, will host the renowned Creative Masters Series, as well as a Main Stage session and special programs for content creators. Providing exclusive insight into latest technologies and techniques that are reinventing the storytelling process, the 2019 NAB Show will be held April 6 – 11 in Las Vegas.

Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV), a provider of cloud services for video, has announced it has completed the acquisition of the online video platform business of Ooyala, a provider of cloud video technology.

The strategic acquisition strengthens Brightcove’s position as the market leader in the online video industry. Ooyala OVP customers join an already impressive list of companies working with Brightcove.

In much of the world spring is a season with a nice big payload of rituals, customs and a whiff of hope.  Easter, Passover and Ramadan, on the religious side, occur before summer’s sun blares at us.  Among my favorite rituals is “Hanami,” the ancient Japanese tradition of viewing cherry blossoms (sakura).  I go to Brooklyn’s Botanical Gardens for