Working at Nevion – Q&A with Håkon Haugholt-Dale

Meet Håkon Haugholt-Dale, Senior Software Engineer at Nevion in Norway.

Next up in our ‘Q&A with the Architects’ series is Håkon Haugholt-Dale. Håkon has been involved in the broadcast industry since the 1990s, having joined T-VIPS before its merger with Nevion. In this blog, Håkon explains his role shift in 2023 to better suit his work-life balance, his pride at being involved in the launch of JPEG 2000 back in 2006 and the benefits of Nevion’s flexible working policy.

What attracted you to join Nevion as part of your career journey and what is your role there now?

My journey in this industry started back in 1997 when a friend of mine from my studies, who had joined Tandberg Television, invited me to an interview there. I was successful in getting the job and that kickstarted my career in broadcast. Over the years, I’ve worked at a few different companies, including Tandberg and T-VIPS, which eventually merged with Nevion in 2013. I’m a Senior Software Engineer at Nevion.

How has your role progressed whilst you’ve been at Nevion?

Initially, I started as a Developer, but later moved into a Support Manager role for 13 years. It was a great learning experience, but it does require being available for round-the-clock customer support. That became more difficult over time as I’d started a family and wanted to be present for my children. Returning to a development role allowed me to work regular hours, regain the work-life balance I needed and return to technical projects, which I’ve now been doing for almost two years.

What three words would you use to describe Nevion?

I’d describe Nevion as agile, creative and inclusive. We’re agile in that we’re a smaller-sized company that can quickly adjust to customer requirements, which is crucial in this industry. We have the freedom to be creative and put our own stamp on exciting projects. Lastly, Nevion is inclusive because anyone can express their true selves and be empowered to contribute to the team.

What interested you about working in the broadcast industry?

I didn’t know much about the broadcast industry when I first started. My background was in electronics and development, and I enjoyed fixing things and creating solutions, so the sector matched my interests. Broadcasting is something that’s also been a big part of so many lives. I’ve even had the experience of debugging in my living room when the same problem we were debugging at work appeared in the local broadcast. It’s fulfilling to know the work we do positively impacts so many people.

Can you tell us about a project you have worked on during your time at Nevion that you are most proud of?

One of the projects I’m most proud of was implementing JPEG 2000, an image compression standard and coding system, back in 2006. I was also involved in designing the transmission protocol, from encoder to decoder, for the JPEG data. It was really exciting as Nevion was the first to go to market with it, which is a great reflection of the pioneering technologies that the company has worked on over the years.

What is your favorite thing about working for Nevion?

The people here are great. They’re incredibly friendly and easy to work with. I also love the flexibility I have in my role. I can come into the office early and leave early, or work later if needed. It’s easy to adapt my day around my family life. Working from home has also been an option since long before the pandemic, which has been great if I need to be around for my children. Nevion has been ahead of the curve in that respect. We also have lots of social activities throughout the year, including running, ice bathing in the fjord and other sports groups that can bring people together.

What new technology/ innovation excites you the most in the broadcasting world?

There are quite a few. There is a lot of talk about cloud technology in live production and augmented reality, which could potentially help with controlling our products in the future. I’m curious to see how these technologies could be used in our company. I also love drones and seeing them being used in sports broadcasting is really exciting, even though it’s not something we’re directly involved with.