Those responsible for technology must enable strategies that allow them to point towards the connected future, but without losing sight of the fact that just under half of the world's population is not connected and this represents a real opportunity.
TVyVideo+Radio
The professional vocation of Carlos Miranda Matzumoto, CTO of MVS, reflects two trends represented by design and engineering; a scholarship of excellence from Tecnológico de Monterrey convinces him to study electronics and communications engineering, graduating with honorable mention in 1992; months later he completed an industrial design course at UNAM; Likewise, throughout his career he develops various specialties, ranging from marketing and quality systems, in institutions such as IPADE and Harvard Business School, to his master's degree in strategic management and innovation management endorsed by Spanish universities.
His first job was related to the automation of industrial processes, where he learned about the complex universe of sensors, transducers and other devices that today, almost three decades later, form the basis of the IoT.
Although at a technical level the work was stimulating, the industrial context was far from his expectations, so he decided to explore medical systems in the Dutch company Philips, which allows him to understand, from another angle, the influence of technology on people.
Extensive career
In 1994 Multivisión launched the first DTH system in Latin America, in which Engineer Miranda participates as "deputy operations manager" who basically referred to being technically responsible for what was needed, from providing telephone support, to installing test antennas; this experience pays off, since a year later Multivisión would partner with Hughes Communications to be part of Galaxy Latin America (GLA) and in mid-1996, when DirecTV began broadcasting in the region, he was already deputy technical director of the company in Mexico.
This first phase of DirecTV ends in 1999, when MVS decides to separate from GLA and Carlos Miranda becomes a direct collaborator of Galaxy as director of engineering. It is at this stage that experiments with the first services of games and text messages through TV and even the convergence of TV and Internet through DirecPC.
Working for a transnational company allowed Eng. Miranda to access an abundant source of experience, but above all, to understand the role of technology in new multimedia services; an anecdote that he always remembers originates in a discussion between the areas of technology and programming: to increase the supply of content, programming requested to increase the compression rate, but the technology area maintained that this would affect the quality of the signal; after a whole day of allegations, programming proposes a test scenario: provide a TV signal of "tone and bars" technically perfect and another TV a signal of any program with quality similar to what would be left by increasing the compression and inquiring what would be the preference of an average subscriber; at that point engineers give in by recognizing the customer's priority.
With the departure of DirecTV from Mexico in 2004, Carlos Miranda joined MVS Televisión as director of engineering with the mission of updating the company to digital technology. It is at this stage that he incorporates into his professional experience the operation of TV studios, mobile units, post-production and audio/video editing. The project is an important challenge, since, to the technological decisions, the creation and adoption of new workflows for the entire company would be added, however, with the sponsorship of senior management, the project is a success.
In 2011 MVS Televisión began its incorporation to Dish Mexico, which implies a new phase for Eng. Miranda, since to his functions as director of engineering at MVS TV is added the responsibility as CTO in Dish Mexico, being in charge of the technological strategy of both companies with the opportunity to integrate a 360° vision on the TV business.
The power of the consumer
And it is in this environment - nourished by 25 years of experience in different branches of technology - that all the pieces begin to come together in a coherent way since the convergence of technologies allows users to access unprecedented experiences of entertainment, information, communication, as well as complementary products and services.
First, Engineer Miranda believes that it is important to accept that the industry has evolved from a model controlled by the supplier to a scheme where the consumer chooses his experience. For example: the classic model of the pay-TV operator that unilaterally defines the service that the subscriber must hire, is rapidly changing to the model of "entertainment on demand" where not only the way in which the content is accessed is modified, but the content itself is diversified and adapted to erase the borders between movies, music, video games and communication, among others.
Secondly, it is important to recognize that in this convergence it is practically impossible for a company to develop on its own an experience that meets the expectations of consumers, so the creation of services based on open technologies and standards that allow to build "ecosystems" between companies that complement each other, is the best strategy for the creation of experiences that attract -and retain- potential users. If unifying reasonably related entertainment services has been a challenge, it is expected that the additional integration of other areas such as health or safety will require a much greater technological, operational and business effort, so maintaining an open and flexible attitude is essential for the future of companies.
However, Engineer Miranda considers – true to his personal vision – that the greatest challenge is to find the balance in the transition, although the direction of the entertainment industry is clear, it is also true that the availability of the technological infrastructure essential for its implementation is uneven, which poses a paradox: while the entertainment industry is rapidly pushing a global digital base, the gap in the availability of the required infrastructure becomes more apparent. Faced with this situation, the role of those responsible for technology in the company is fundamental; strategies must be put in place to target the connected future, but without losing sight of the fact that just under half of the world's population is not connected and this represents a real opportunity.
For Carlos Miranda, living and actively participating in this stage of change is an invaluable opportunity and he hopes to continue contributing positively to the future.
Balance in all activities
Carlos Miranda Matzumoto was born in Mexico City on April 29, 1970, the eldest of three children of Monica Yazuko Matzumoto Azho and Carlos Miranda; she, daughter of Japanese parents who came to America in the times of the Second World War and her father, an aeronautical engineer whose professional life was dedicated to civil and military aviation.
Personally, Engineer Miranda believes in balance and tries to reflect it in his daily work, in the family – he is happily married and fortunate to have two daughters – and work; you can devote yourself completely to a VOD project, but always try to maintain your health through yoga and the gym, which replaced your forays into extreme activities such as martial arts, skydiving or caving from previous years.
