BBC developer network
backstage.bbc.co.uk
is the brand name (and
URL
) of the
BBC's
developer network which operated between May 2005 and December 2010.
Purpose
[
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]
Launched partly as a response to the Graf Review
[1]
of
bbc.co.uk
, the aims of
backstage.bbc.co.uk
are to encourage
innovation
and
creativity
in the
UK
, and to identify new talent. According to the BBC's response to the Graf report, the site aims to
support social innovation by encouraging users’ efforts to build sites and projects that meet their needs and those of their communities ... The BBC will also be committed to using open standards that will enable users to find and re-purpose BBC content in more flexible ways
History
[
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]
backstage.bbc.co.uk was created by Tom Loosemore,
Ben Metcalfe
and James Boardwell. It was piloted internally within the BBC in the Spring of 2005, then launched on 11 May 2005. Its aim was to encourage innovative use of the content across
bbc.co.uk
, including the
BBC News website
, by third-party developers.
The website came out of beta as an official site on 23 July 2005 at the backstage.bbc.co.uk
OpenTech
event which was organised by
NTK
and the
UK Unix Users Group
. It is sometimes referred to as
BBC Backstage
, although the official title of the project is backstage.bbc.co.uk.
The
BBC
admit that in the past they had not always welcomed amateur innovators who attempted to reuse BBC content, but through the backstage site they aimed to foster a dialogue with such developers and the wider community. This was essential as the BBC launched a video player online and the same community voiced their concerns. A peaceful DRM protest in February 2007 took place in
London
and
Manchester
by
Defective by Design
, BBC Backstage kept the dialogue open in their
public mailing list
and later in the
first of many podcasts
In July 2006, backstage.bbc.co.uk won the New Statesman New Media Innovation award.
[2]
In December 2010, the project was closed.
[3]
[4]
An ebook retrospective was created to mark the end.
[5]
[6]
Feeds
[
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]
XML
feeds are available on the backstage website for people to build with on a non-commercial basis. A complete list of the feeds available can be found on the site, but they include
RSS
from the
BBC News Website
,
TV
listings (in
TV-Anytime
format) and
travel
delay data. The BBC's
RSS
feeds, which are a main component of their backstage philosophy, output around 500 unique pieces of news each and every day from its network of over 5000 journalists.
Events
[
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]
In June 2007, backstage.bbc.co.uk and
Yahoo!
hosted a weekend
Hack Day
in North London's
Alexandra Palace
for several hundred developers and designers followed by a performance by
The Rumble Strips
. The event was hit by lightning on the Saturday morning.
Also in 2007, backstage.co.uk hosted the TV Unfestival at the International Television Festival in Edinburgh.
backstage.bbc.co.uk is currently part of BBC Research & Development. The department headed up by Matthew Postgate. The senior producer is Ian Forrester and development producer role is open. Matthew Cashmore used to be developer producer at backstage but now works for
Lonely Planet
, and Rain Ashford who now works for another
BBC
project in Media Literacy.
In April 2008, backstage.bbc.co.uk held a new event (based on the Yahoo! concept - Hack Day) called Over the Air at Imperial College which was based around mobile development and ideas.
In June 2008, backstage.bbc.co.uk held another event (based on the Yahoo! concept - Hack Day) called Mashed at Alexandra Palace in North London.
References
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]
External links
[
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]
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