IBC announces the opening of the Technical Papers call for the IBC2026 Conference, inviting innovators from across the global media, entertainment, and technology community to share original research and practical breakthroughs shaping the future of the industry. The submission deadline is Friday, 20 February.
For more than 50 years, IBC’s Technical Papers have set the benchmark for engineering excellence, showcasing ideas, prototypes, and implementations that drive the evolution of media.
From AI-driven workflows and trusted news systems to immersive formats, cloud production, 5G infrastructure, and sustainable media practices, the programme provides insight that goes far beyond headline trends.
IBC is world-renowned for the quality, timeliness, and innovative subject matter of its Technical Papers. They are where real technological progress meets practical application, and where the industry’s brightest minds share knowledge for the benefit of the entire media ecosystem. We encourage researchers, engineers, and professionals from every discipline to take part in IBC2026 and help shape the next chapter of the industry, said Mike Crimp, CEO of IBC.
Open to the entire media technology community
The programme is open to submissions from all sectors of broadcasting, communications, electronic media, and entertainment. Professionals from any discipline are welcome to submit, whether industry experts, academics, members of R&D teams, independent practitioners, or those working within global organisations.
IBC Technical Papers present unpublished technical disclosures of original and novel research and innovation, focused on real-world industry challenges. At this initial stage, participants are invited to submit a 300-word synopsis outlining the key topic, what makes the work unique and novel, and its practical relevance to the industry.
Submissions are rigorously reviewed by a panel of professional experts. Papers accepted for presentation at the IBC2026 Conference will be eligible for the Best Conference Paper Award, presented at the IBC2026 Awards.
About the 2025 programme
The 2025 edition highlighted the extraordinary diversity of technologies transforming the media sector. Topics ranged from facial recognition and machine learning applied to news, to generative AI for targeted advertising, large-scale streaming for tens of millions of concurrent viewers, XR technologies and neural radiance fields, advances in video coding, 5G field trials, and sustainability initiatives.
The coveted Best Technical Paper Award was presented to a Swiss-led team from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and HEIG-VD for their work EBU NEO – A sophisticated multilingual chatbot for a trusted news ecosystem exploration.
Selected alongside 22 other finalist papers from a total of 337 submissions, the winning paper was chosen by IBC’s international peer review panel, comprising 20 experts. The paper highlighted both the potential and current limitations of artificial intelligence applied to public-facing journalism, underlining the real-world impact delivered by the Technical Papers.
Key information
- Submission requirement: 300-word synopsis
- Submission deadline: Friday, 20 February 2026
- Submit entries at: IBC Technical Papers | IBC2026 Show, 11–14 September 2026
