The 12th FOKUS Media Web Symposium (MWS) and Media Web Week have come to an end. And one thing is certain: even after all these years, the FOKUSMWS is anything but routine. It was a week full of innovation, exciting discussions, and inspiring insights into the future of media technologies.
New beginnings
This year’s Media Web Week not only marked the end of a successful week, but also the beginning of a new era: Our FOKUSMWS founders passed coordination to the new chairs, who organized an excellent 12th edition. We look back on their achievements with great gratitude – they have made FOKUSMWS what it is today. But every transition also marks a new beginning: for the first time ever, a new generation took over the organization of FOKUSMWS – which did not detract from the event in any way…
MWS by the numbers – facts and figures
The 12th FOKUSMWS & Media Web Week offered an impressive variety: With a total of 6 tutorials, 4 workshops, 7 conference sessions, 83 speakers, 31 event partners and more LinkedIn posts than I could count. With the 4 co-located events, the program was more comprehensive than ever. More than 280 participants from 21 countries came to FOKUS to exchange ideas on the latest trends in Internet-based media delivery.
Topics & highlights
This year’s FOKUSMWS offered a wide range of current and upcoming trends in media technologies:
Streaming innovations
Many sessions focused on state-of-the-art media delivery technologies. Relevant developments such as QUIC-based streaming, low-latency methods, DASH/HLS, and modern video player architectures were examined in depth. For projects with performance requirements, the contribution on the integration of edge and cloud processing was particularly exciting – for example, for latency optimization or scalable infrastructures. Aspects such as digital rights management (DRM) and quality of experience (QoE) are also directly relevant for technical roadmaps in platform projects.
Sustainable Media
Alexander Leschinsky, CEO from G&L with “Data Sovereignty & Sustainability in G&L’s streaming platform for the European Parliament” | © Michel Koczy / Fraunhofer FOKUS
A focus was on ecological and social sustainability in digital media delivery. Key topics included energy-efficient encoding, resource-saving streaming infrastructures, and optimized player technologies. Social impact and sustainability standards in digital advertising were also highlighted. Practical approaches to green streaming covered energy savings via AI-enabled video optimization on smartphones, modelling energy consumption in content delivery networks, and implementing sustainable streaming platforms for large-scale use cases. These insights provide valuable guidance for embedding sustainability into streaming media workflows and projects.
5G Media and Extended Reality
Key topics included the use of open standards and open-source tools to enable scalable and interoperable media delivery, as well as innovations in streaming over satellite and terrestrial networks. Emerging features in 5G-Advanced were discussed with an emphasis on their relevance to immersive media applications such as XR. Particular attention was given to the integration of volumetric video, wearable technologies, and the role of 5G/6G in supporting real-time, high-quality media experiences. Across the sessions, a strong focus emerged on enabling more responsive, efficient, and immersive media ecosystems through close alignment between media technologies and next-generation connectivity.
Content Provenance
A forward-looking focus was placed on ensuring content authenticity, particularly through standardardization activities such as C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity). These developments are key enablers with high strategic relevance for building transparent and trustworthy media ecosystems, such as news systems or user-generated content platforms. The aim is to create verifiable metadata chains that document the origin, modification history, and distribution path of digital assets, whether images, videos, or text-based content. The strategic importance is growing rapidly, especially in the light of the increasing spread of AI-generated and manipulated media. Key topics addressed were usability aspects for end users but also media creators as well as the current gap in supporting live streaming scenarios within the C2PA framework which requires real-time metadata generation, continuous signing, and minimal latency.
AI-Driven Media Technologies
The talks on Artificial Intelligence at this year’s FOKUSMWS offered a comprehensive look at how artificial intelligence is transforming the media landscape. Discussions centered on the evolving mindset around generative AI and its growing influence on content creation, search optimization, and marketing strategies. Strategic implications of emerging technologies — such as AI glasses — were explored alongside broader reflections on the challenges and opportunities of AI integration in media environments. The importance of updated internet standards for signaling content usage in AI training was also emphasized. Practical applications played a major role, including the use of AI to enhance customer experiences, build media services with open-source tools, and automate live subtitle generation and translation. The program also addressed the need for AI literacy, highlighting the gap between access to AI tools and user competence. Finally, the concept of an “agentic web” pointed toward a future shaped by the interplay of new and legacy technologies.
Co-located events and networking
In addition to the main program, the symposium also offered exciting accompanying events. These included the dash.js Face-to-Face Meeting, the SVTA/DASH-IF Special Session, CCSUBS, and the Learning Technology Symposium, which celebrated its premiere this year.
The Media Web Night at the end of the first day provided a relaxed atmosphere for discussions, networking, and the exchange of new ideas.
Media Web Night – Our networking evening event | © Paul Hahn / Fraunhofer FOKUS
We look forward to working with you in our areas of expertise. Together with partners and interested parties, we want to drive innovation forward and implement groundbreaking projects. We would also like to draw your attention to our FAME Solutions. Together, we can master the challenges of the media industry and shape the trends of tomorrow.
A look into the future
After this successful event, we are already looking ahead to the future. The 13th FOKUS Media Web Symposium is already in the planning stages. Next year, the symposium will once again offer a unique opportunity to learn about the latest technological developments, exchange ideas with international experts, and shape the future of the media industry together.
The FOKUSMWS Team: Thank you and see you next year! | © Paul Hahn / Fraunhofer FOKUS
If you like to contribute to the next FOKUS Media Web Symposium, please contact us.
In our gallery, you will find lots of impressions from the event, our program shows you what was on the agenda, and on our website, you can browse through everything at your leisure. Take a look—it’s worth it!
Further information about our research can be found at our website Fraunhofer FOKUS. We look forward to welcoming you!
Your FOKUSMWS Team