backstage.bbc.co.uk

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backstage.bbc.co.uk is the URL and brand name of the BBC's developer network created by Tom Loosemore, Ben Metcalfe and James Boardwell. It was launched on May 11, 2005 to encourage innovative use of the content across bbc.co.uk and the BBC News Website.

It is sometimes referred to as BBC Backstage, although it is not clear whether that is the official title of the project.

The website came out of beta as an official site on July 23, 2005 at the backstage.bbc.co.uk Open Tech event which was organised by NTK and the UK Unix Group.

Launched partly as a response to the Graf Review 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 repurpose BBC content in more flexible ways.

The BBC admit that in the past they had not always welcomed amateur innovators who attempted to reuse BBC content, but now, through the backstage site they aim to foster a dialogue with such developers and the wider community.

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.

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.

backstage.bbc.co.uk is currently part of BBC Research & Innovation. It's sits within the Innovation Culture Portfolio headed up by Dr Adrian Woolard. The senior producers are Ian Forrester and Matthew Cashmore.

In June 2008 backstage.bbc.co.uk will be organising an event based on the Yahoo! concept - Hack Day. The event is called Mashed and will be held at Alexandra Palace in North London once again.