I wish to express my sincere gratitude to FIAT/IFTA for the travel grant that enabled me to attend the FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2025 in Italy.

As a professional working with audio visual material and records management in Zambia, this conference was extremely valuable. The grant covered my travel and accommodation costs, which would otherwise have been a significant barrier given the limited institutional funding available for AV archiving in my country.

Key sessions focused on the latest techniques in storage of digital copies, which included cloud-based preservation systems, migration strategies, and AI-assisted metadata generation for large-scale AV collections. The practical workshops on sustainable digital storage and risk management for broadcast archives are directly relevant to challenges we face with deteriorating tape formats and the growing public needs especially here in Africa.

I engaged with archivists from leading broadcasters and learned approaches for balancing long-term digital preservation. FIAT/IFTA’s support ensures that African perspectives are included in global AV preservation standards. The knowledge gained will strengthen transparency and access to information in Zambia through better-managed audiovisual heritage.

Thank you for investing in capacity building for AV archives in the Global – Southern Region.