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Open Innovation
Collaboration at the heart of the system
MediaRoad's goal is to develop a long-term vision for the media universe, and more specifically for public service media. This objective can be translated into three axes:
- to create bridges between the creators (of programs in particular), the world of technology and the world of innovation;
- encourage the establishment of new partnerships, between media, with platforms, including American platforms, with start-ups, etc...;
- encourage cooperation and the sharing of tools and best practices between European media.
The notion of collaboration is therefore at the heart of this mechanism, in line with the EBU's role with public service broadcasters in Europe. Three concrete actions are to be set up within the MediaRoad framework, each one feeding into the other two:
- A "SandBox Hub", similar to the initiative led by VRT in Belgium, which enables innovative solutions for start-ups to be identified and experimented with within the media before considering a wider deployment of the solution.
- a "Policy Hub ", which aims to define a long-term vision in the media sector (audiovisual, social networks, etc.), whether in terms of creation, production, distribution or user protection, with exchanges between the different actors, the publication of reports and studies ("Cloud, Data, Privacy and Security" in May 2018, "The European Research Agenda beyond 2020" in May 2019), meetings with experts, academics, etc.
- a "Network Hub" that will organize about ten events by August 31, 2019 (the end date of the MediaRoad project) to bring together the media, R&D departments, creators and producers, start-ups, journalists, academics, technology providers, in order to share experiences, projects and their results. Upcoming events will focus on new trends in data sciences and artificial intelligence for media, the evolution of audience measurement, robotic journalists, digital innovation and content in a multi-platform universe?
Building a strong European tech/media sector
These various initiatives should ultimately lead to the construction of a stronger, more solid, more open European tech/media sector, with a greater capacity to respond to the challenges of the media sector on a European or even global scale, such as the massive arrival of robots (on data and artificial intelligence in particular), the development of IP and cloud-based solutions, raising questions about cyber-security, the emergence of Augmented Reality, the distribution of connected objects, notably voice-controlled, or hyper-connectivity, boosted by the arrival of 5G,
This is particularly the case of the "SandBox Hub", which allows both a broader vision of innovation, broadening the scope of possibilities for the media (to have access to start-ups from other countries) and for start-ups (to continue their growth on a European scale). Several start-ups that participated in VRT's "SandBox" were present on Monday to testify about their experience, pitches and demonstrate their solution, including Melusyn/Setkeeper, a well-known FTV start-up that facilitates the management of video projects in the pre-production phase.
During the day, Paolo Cesarini, Director of the "Convergence of Media and Social Networks" unit at the European Commission, also expressed the particular attention that this institution pays to the topics :
- fake news and their impact on pluralism and the evolution of democracy;
- data protection for users;
- the "discoverability" of content in the flow of available content.
Adapting regulations
Without detailing the future action of the European Commission, he reaffirmed its willingness to intervene on these subjects, through new regulations, including the evolution of the SMAD directive, but also by promoting, for example on the field of fake news, preventive actions rather than a posteriori control with fact-checking.
Françoise Benhamou, member of ARCEP, for her part, addressed the upheavals at work in the media sector and pleaded for new regulation :
- for the benefit of Creation, whether it is the fruit of traditional actors or new operators;
- aimed at encouraging the development of cultural diversity;
- ensuring the conditions for fair competition between the different actors.
The presentation of the event: http://www.mediaroad.eu/mr-conferences/launch-event
