Memnon bound for new Brussels HQ ahead of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

Memnon Archiving Services — a Sony Company — is to open its new headquarters in Evere, Brussels with a new production structure to better serve the future needs for audiovisual archive digitalisation. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in demand for original and historic audiovisual content in the media and broadcasting industry and new applications with the growth of mobile and broadband for video sharing and e-learning.

While these factors are changing the way information and resources are produced, seen and managed, audiovisual heritage is under more threat today than ever. Audiovisual archives and tapes and films deteriorate unavoidably with time, while playback equipment tends to disappear; some historic manufacturers no longer produce it and skills in this area become scarce.

Therefore, UNESCO has declared 27 October the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, to serve as a global reminder of the need to safeguard this aspect of our collective memory. To respond to these challenges, in June 2016 the Memnon Archiving Services (a member of the Sony group) will open its new headquarters with a new production site in Evere, Brussels.

Acquired by Sony on 1 July 2015, the Brussels-based company Memnon Archiving Services has become a world leader in the sector, offering digitalisation services both via its facilities in Brussels and the United States (at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana) and as managed services on various client sites, bringing its operations to the customer and passing on its knowledge and expertise to them. Memnon currently exports its services to the United States and the Middle East, but is also exploring new markets such as Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Having been the first tenant of the renovated Flagey building, Memnon has decided to leave Flagey in Ixelles and transfer to a new and completely renovated space in Rue du Four à Briques in Evere. The new location is perfect for Memnon to further industrialise the processes for large scale digitalisation of audiovisual archives, in order to meet the needs and quality expectations of organisations that hold precious archives and to meet the company’s growth targets for the coming years.

The acquisition by Sony means that Memnon is already benefitting from Sony’s industrial process and technological expertise. Memnon will move all its operations to its new 1800-m2 headquarters, taking the operations for audiovisual archive processing to a new level.

The capacity for audio and video archive digitalisation will increase considerably, with new digitalisation processes of films implemented, and the company’s Research & Development hub to expand the offering to new services. The new headquarters in Evere become a new showcase for its expertise in large-scale digitalisation.