Archives 2002:
November
2002
October 2002
August 2002
June/July 2002
May 2002
April
2002
March 2002
January 2002
November 2002
Montreux 2002, a resounding
success (november 2002)
FIAM 3rd Internet and multimedia Summit (October 8-11)
has come and gone and it has been a resounding success.
200 participants joined us in the beautiful Swiss Riviera
City to discuss issues related to digital content, technology
and knowledge transfer, intellectual property, Internet
governance and other multimedia related issues. Close
to thirty Internet and multimedia associations worldwide
were also with us to participate in the discussions,
establish contacts with their counterparts and develop
their business network. All were keen to relay to us
that the conferences, the ensuing debates and discussions
and the quality of the content presented during those
three days were first-rate. We were also quite happy
with the technical and logistical support provided to
the Summit by the host association, SwissMedia, which
spared no effort to ease everybody's work.
Back to top
FIAM to participate at WSIS
2003 (november 2002)
During the closing conference of Montreux 2002. Mr.
Pierre GAGNÉ, Executive Director of the World
Summit on the Information Society, invited
FIAM and its associations to participate in the work
of WSIS and present the Multimedia industry role and
initiatives in fostering and promoting greater access
and use of localized and culturally relevant digital
content. This issue is of major importance to the overall
premise of WSIS which will look at ICTs revolutionizing
effects on society at large and on how to ensure that
information technology is used to the benefit of all.
FIAM is setting up a working committee for the purpose
of preparing a position paper to be presented in Geneva
in December 2003. This position paper will also spell
out current and future initiatives the Associations
worldwide are or will be involved in, particularly with
regards to economic growth and new partnerships, technology
transfer, awareness of new technologies and local content
development and skilled employment opportunities. FIAM
calls upon all member associations to get involved in
this exercise and help spell out the Industry's role
and potential regarding this important matter (inputs,
cooperation, funding and support, operational proposals,
meetings, training sessions, network). You will be receiving
very shortly a call for participation and relevant information
about this specific working committee's mandate and
objectives. For more information, please contact Nasser
Boumenna.
Back to top
New FIAM board members
(november 2002)
Re-elected FIAM President Hervé Fischer is happy
to announce the appointment of several new board members:
Szekfu Balàzs (Hungary) from the Hungarian Association
of IT Companies (IVSZ), Olga Heker (Argentina) from
the Argentinean Multimedia Association (AADM), Hervé
Lhoumeau (France) from Aquitaine Multimédia and
Moez Souabni (Tunisia) from the Association Tunisienne
de l'Internet et du Multimédia (ATIM). Three
other board members have been re-elected to their current
positions : Philippe Wacker representing the European
Multimedia Forum (EMF), Roland Grunder as Vice President
representing Switzerland (SwissMedia) and Bertrand De
Petigny (Cambodia), a founding member of FIAM.
Back to top
FIAM Strategic Plan 2003-2005
(november 2002)
The response rate to our multimedia associations questionnaire
mailing (close to 30%) has been quite good and from
the pertinent answers, we have produced a power-point
summary document. This summary document presents
data regarding the associations themselves but also
the association's opinions as to the Federation's mandate
and future objectives. Our work does not stop here however
and in the coming weeks a more complete action plan
will be submitted for approval to FIAM Board and will
be posted on our website as public information.
Back to top
October 2002
MONTREUX 2002 (october
2002)
Only a few days left before the Summit is upon
us. This year, the multimedia industry is setting its
attention on the Digital Divide and on the different
approaches and solutions to combat it. Entitled Bridging
the Digital Divide: the Multimedia Industry Speaks Out,
(Montreux, Switzerland, October 8-11, 2002) the summit
brings together 75 speakers from 32 countries who will
focus on such issues as technology and know how transfer
in the multimedia Industry, information technology employment
and human resource development in both rich and emerging
economies, digital content production and localization,
co-habitation of open and proprietary software in the
public and private sectors, fiscal and regulatory issues
of digital trade.
We will address these issues by looking at several
areas of industry activity:
- affordable multimedia tools and applications produced
nowadays that allow greater use and enjoyment of interactive
digital content;
- national and international technology and know-how
transfer mechanisms that help the development of local
multimedia industries;
- global, national and local initiatives allowing
for the development of original, localized and diverse
interactive digital content;
- and finally, legal and regulatory frameworks that
facilitate the multimedia industry's production and
distribution of digital content nationally and internationally.
Furthermore, the Federation, on behalf of the Associations
and their members, seek to intervene and represent the
interests and intentions of the multimedia industry
in the decision-making process leading to the World
Summit on the Information Society (Geneva, December
2003) where important decisions will be taken affecting
national and regional information technology and multimedia
policies, structures and investment programs.
To discuss these issues during the three-day event,
we have secured the presence of renowned speakers, among
whom Sam Pitroda, CEO of WorldTel and a very important
actor in the early development of IT in his country,
India; Erika Mann (Germany), European Parliamentarian
and a great believer in the need for change in Internet
Governance; Eduardo Da Costa form Brazil, founder of
Softex, the Brazilian Software Program for Export; Mohamed
BEN AHMED, Professor and Chairman of the RIADI Research
Laboratory at the University of Manouba in Tunisia,
an exponent of open source software in emerging economies.
Close to thirty important multimedia industry representatives
will also join us in Montreux and we should count on
the participation of associations such as PIKOM (Malaysia),
Shanghai Multimedia Association (China), European Multimedia
Forum (Europe), Flanders Multimedia Valley (Belgium),
OSIRIS (Senegal), Northern Ireland Internet and Multimedia
Association (UK), Red Cientifica Peruana (Peru), Institute
of the Information Society (Russia), Brazilian Chamber
of e-commerce (Brazil), Australian Internet and Multimedia
Association (Australia).
Back to top
FIAM and the e-inclusion website
initiative (october 2002)
FIAM is happy to announce its support for a new initiative
aimed at promoting the use of information technology
for bridging the divide and raise funding for educational
projects in poor regions of the world. The initiative,
a unique website where every click is the equivalent
of a .05 cents donation to specific educational projects
worldwide, was launched with the efforts of the Digital
Youth Consortium (DYC) and under the leadership of Prof.
Alfonso Molina. The main objective of the website is
to increase public and private sector as well as individual
awareness and participation between rich and poor regions
of the world, with special focus on educational projects.
For more information, please contact Mr. Alfonso Molina
or Alberto Nardelli at http://www.e-inclusionsite.org/eng/home.asp.
Back to top
August 2002
MONTREUX 2002
(august 2002)
There remain less than two months before FIAM 3rd international
Summit of Internet and Multimedia (Montreux, Switzerland,
October 8-11, 2002). The Summit is entitled Bridging
the Digital Divide : the Multimedia Industry Speaks
Out, and already a wide array of national and international
multimedia-related associations and organizations will
be present to network, exchange and participate in several
original industry projects to fighting the Divide.
More than 70 speakers
from 31 countries have confirmed their
participation
23 associations from 18
countries are already registered
More about confirmed
speakers.
More about attending
associations.
More about the
program.
Back to top
June/July 2002
Shanghai Multimedia Delegation
Visits Montreal and FIAM Offices (june/july
2002)
FIAM met June 13th a 12 member-strong delegation representing
the Shanghai Multimedia Industry Association (SMIA),
the Municipality of Shanghai and various local multimedia
company chiefs. The discussions focused on both parties'
professional activities and on the potential for business
relationships. China is currently witnessing an unprecedented
growth in the fields of Internet and multimedia and
is positioning itself as an important centre for foreign
companies interested in outsourcing software development
and production. The municipality of Shanghai is building,
in cooperation with other local partners, several technology
and innovation parks, the first one to be inaugurated
later this year. These parks will consist of multimedia
production centres and R&D labs in such fields as
digital cinema, gaming, virtual reality, e-learning
and other multimedia content applications. The delegation
was keen in the parks' potential to act as levers to
the local multimedia industry and to attract international
IT and multimedia companies interested in taking advantage
of the growing Chinese digital content market.
Back to top
ISOC Francophonie 2002
(june/july 2002)
French-speaking chapters of the Internet Society met
in Montreal, June 12-14, and FIAM staff and ISOC-Quebec
member, Nasser Boumenna, attended this lively and nicely
organized event. The purpose of the meeting was for
these linguistically-defined ISOC chapters to come up
with a set of proposals and projects to be presented
at INET 2002 (June 18-21) in Washington D.C. Four issues
of interest to these chapters were identified and discussed
in workshop formats: Internet Governance and adequate
chapter representation at ISOC, cooperation among linguistically-based
ISOC chapters, the promotion of French-speaking digital
content and the development of technologies fostering
the use of the French language on the Web. Based on
the results of the discussions, a set of proposals were
voted on the last day of the event and we invite you
to refer to
www.isoc-francophonie.org
for a clear description of these outcomes.
Back to top
MONTREUX 2002 (june/july
2002)
Circle those dates because there are only three months
left before FIAM 3rd international Summit of Internet
and Multimedia (Montreux, Switzerland, October 8-11,
2002). The Summit is entitled Bridging the Digital Divide
: the Multimedia Industry Speaks Out, and already a
wide array of national and international multimedia-related
associations and organizations will be present to network,
exchange and participate in several original industry
projects to fighting the Divide.
Dozens of multimedia associations from around the world
among whom AADM (Argentina), NASSCOM (India), EMF (Europe),
CAPROSOFT (Costa Rica), APEBI (Morocco), @TIM (Tunisia),
DMMV (Germany), Alliance Numériqc (Quebec), OSIRIS
(Senegal), etc. are expected in Montreux where they
will take part in five specifically tailored industry-setting
workshops. Details regarding participation at these
unique workshops will be sent to you in the next few
weeks:
- digital content localization and the promotion of
cultural diversity,
- technology and knowledge transfer mechanisms,
- skills development in multimedia employment,
- digital content and intellectual property,
- e-learning and multimedia
The Summit has been chosen by the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) as a pre-conference to the one it is organizing
on behalf of the United Nations on the Information Society
(Geneva, December 2003).
Back to top
May 2002
MONTREUX 2002 (may
2002)
FIAM 3rd World Summit of Internet and Multimedia (Montreux,
Switzerland, October 8-11, 2002) is going strong. The
Summit, entitled Bridging the Digital Divide: the Multimedia
Industry Speaks Out, is gearing up to be a unique venue
for discussion and debate on hands on approaches to
fighting the Digital Divide. A wide array of international
organizations will be in Montreux to present and propose
IT and multimedia projects among whom the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) which has chosen our
event as preparatory to the one it is organizing on
behalf of the United Nations on the Information Society
(Geneva, December 2003), UNDP, OECD, WorldTel Corporation,
Hewlett Packard, the European Commission and the Word
Bank to name only a few. The Summit will focus on three
major themes the details of which can be found on our
website :
1) Bridging the Divide, Pushing for Inclusion
2) Technology and Knowledge Transfer
3) Fostering creativity and Internet and Multimedia
Confirmed keynote speakers include:
- Debra DUNN
(Vice President, Marketing and Business Development,
Hewlett-Packard)
- Dennis GILHOOLY
(Special Advisor to Mark Mallock Brown, Administrator
at United Nations Development Program)
- Bruno LANVIN
(Executive Secretary of DOT Force, INFODEVEV Manager,
The World Bank)
- Sam PITRODA
(CEO, WorldTel., UK)
- Sibisuso SIBISI
(CEO, CSIR South Africa)
- Robert STONE
(Scientific Director, Virtual Muse, UK)
- Yoshio UTSUMI
(Secretary General, International Telecommunication
Union)
Back to top
Multimedia Market of the Americas
(MMA, May 7-10, 2002) (may 2002)
As we write these lines, the MMA
has just concluded its activities on a positive note.
Two dozen IT and multimedia companies from Latin America
(Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Mexico and
Peru) were in Montreal to meet their Quebec counterparts
and evaluate what business relationships they can establish
with the Quebec Internet and multimedia industry. The
Quebec Council for Latin America (CQAL),
in cooperation with FIAM are matching those Latin companies
with Quebec firms involved in such fields as e-commerce,
safe payment, on-line marketing, e-learning, Tele-health
and Interactive TV and multimedia production. Several
MOU and business agreements were signed between North
and South American multimedia companies among which
Toxic
Technologies (Quebec) and Heker Multimedia
(Argentina) in the area of Internet infrastructure outsourcing,
Direct
Vox (Quebec) and Interativa
(Brazil) to translate, adapt and market software for
the management of integrated documents, Agis
(Quebec) with Citmatel
(Cuba), CyberCorp (Mexico), Easy Informatica (Brazil)
and Syspro (Argentina) in various e-commerce and multimedia
applications. The four-day event was organized under
the aegis of the Bolivar program which aims at opening
the Latin American market to Quebec companies through
the development of partnerships between multimedia and
IT companies.
Back to top
April 2002
Amman welcomes a new Arab Media
Association (april 2002)
The International Federation of Multimedia Associations
was well represented at the "New Media and change
in the Arab World" Conference held in Amman (Jordan)
and FIAM President Hervé Fischer's conference
was very much appreciated. Over a hundred media representatives
from 22 countries
discussed and debated the influence of new media and
the pressure it is exerting on the need for freedom
of expression in Arab countries. "It was a great
success, argued Ramzi Khoury, former Editor of Albawaba
and organiser of the conference. It was the highest
ever representation of independent media in the history
of the Arab World." The event also lead to the
creation of a new Pan-Arab Media Association which will
advocate all the issues pertaining to the development
of new media in the Arab countries. "The Pan-Arab
Media Organization is already preliminarily organized
and has asked Jordan to host its headquarters",
said Khoury. "The organization will represent all
types of media and will be the most important project
for Arab media, quite needed at these times of crises
for the people, governments and media organizations
in the Arab World". Once officially created,the
association will seek to join FIAM and be present in
Montreux
this fall. FIAM Director General, André G. Côté,
also met with Bilal Albuzeid, Marketing Director at
Int@j,
the Information technology Association of Jordan, to
seek their membership and represent the national Multimedia
and IT sector of Jordan in the Federation and at the
Montreux Summit.
Back to top
Newcomer (april
2002)
We are happy to welcome a new association member to
our growing family, the Tunisian Association of Internet
and Multimedia (ATIM).
This organization, born in 2000, is presided by Mr.
Moez Souabni, an entrepreneur and well-known figure
in the national multimedia industry. Tunisia has been
at the forefront of Africa’s efforts to popularize
the use of information technology in schools, government
and in specific economic sectors such as the tourism
industry. It enjoys today, by African standards, high
levels of access and use of Internet and multimedia
tools and services. In 2005, it will host the second
leg of the United Nations Summit on the Information
Society, organized in cooperation with the International
Telecommunications Union. At FIAM, we look forward to
a long term collaboration with Moez Souabni and his
group, with the purpose of developing and promoting
the multimedia industry in his country and around the
world. Welcome to FIAM.
Back to top
MONTREUX 2002 (april
2002)
Preparations for FIAM 3rd international Summit of Internet
and Multimedia (Montreux, Switzerland, October 8-11,
2002) are going strong. The Summit, entitled Bridging
the Digital Divide : the Multimedia Industry Speaks
Out, is rapidly taking shape and gearing up to be a
unique and original venue for discussion and debate
on hands on approaches to fighting the Digital Divide.
Several international organizations have confirmed
their participation including the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) which has chosen our event as preparatory
to the one it is organizing on behalf of the United
Nations on the Information Society (Geneva, December
2003), the UNDP, the OECD, WorldTel Corporation, Hewlett
Packard, the European Commission and the Word Bank to
name only a few.
We are also drawing from the rich and varied experience
of our associations and of the multimedia industry in
different parts of the world on the issue of the Digital
Divide in order to understand what efforts they are
exerting to address it. The three major themes of the
Summit are :
- Bridging the Divide, Pushing for Inclusion
: What is the Divide and how do we measure it? What
is the state the telecommunications infrastructure
and what is being done on the regulatory front? Can
IT and multimedia tool and software improve the living
conditions of the have-nots and how is Internet affecting
the way societies govern themselves?
- Technology and Knowledge Transfer
: What are the educational and training initiatives
and programs that allow for greater cooperation between
the IT and multimedia industries and other concerned
actors?
- Fostering creativity and Internet and Multimedia
content : Which Internet and multimedia sectors
provide concrete and efficient answers to the issues
of the Digital Divide (e-learning, open source software,
etc.) and how does one make sure resources are funnelled
toward the aforementioned goals?
Back to top
FIAM Strategic Plan 2002-2005
(april 2002)
FIAM is about to start its first strategic planning
exercise and will seek the participation of all interested
multimedia associations and organizations from around
the world. This exercise will serve the purpose of ensuring
that the Federation readies itself for the challenges
ahead and elaborates objective and forward-looking strategies
to tackle them. The multimedia industry is growing rapidly
in several parts of the world, with software development
and services strongly in the lead. FIAM is interested
in understanding the needs of this dynamic yet quite
varied industry, an industry that is developing at its
own pace as a function of where it is situated. Multimedia
associations and organizations will soon be receiving
documentation pertaining to this exercise and we look
forward to your participation. For more information
on the Strategic Plan, you can ontact Nasser Boumenna,
Director of Content and Strategic Development at nboumenna@fiam.org
Back to top
March 2002
MILIA 2002 (march
2002)
this year's Milia
(Cannes, February 4-8) was quieter than usual but provided
interesting indications regarding the short term future
of interactive digital content development. There were
less participants (600 exhibitors and 5000 visitors)
yet those present seemed busier than ever. Game developers,
large and small, came in drove to present their latest
products and hardware, Nintendo and Sony at the forefront,
reinforcing the claim that with the arrival of game
consoles such as the Cube, PS2 and the Xbox, the video
game industry was bound to take off. On the other hand,
interactive television providers and developers, as
in 2001, made their mark as well with several exhibitors
attempting to convince the visiting public that 2002
was finally gearing up to be the year of ITV without
frontiers and with…content. This still remains
to be seen as little has caught our attention on the
content side.
Overall, Milia 2002 seemed to drive another last nail
on a bygone era, in the field of interactive digital
content, especially with regards to the business underpinnings
of that aspect of the industry. Le roi est mort, vive
le roi !
Back to top
Meeting the multimedia associations
in Cannes (march 2002)
For FIAM staff members, however, the Salon was as busy
as usual. Milia has become over the past few years a
meeting ground for multimedia associations, the European
ones especially, who are taking this opportunity to
interact with their counterparts while discovering what
is happening on the interactive digital content development
front. We have noticed the increasing number of multimedia
associations from Austria, Germany, the U.K. and France,
to name several, who are coming to Milia as part of
larger regional or national delegations which include
governmental regional or municipal representatives,
economic development agencies, bankers and of course
individual companies.
This is a clear indication of the type of vertical
integration that is happening currently at the regional
and national level, in many countries of the world,
between public and private sector organizations looking
to the development of a solid local and regional multimedia
industry. This subject is of great interest to FIAM
and we look forward to discussing it at the Montreux
Summit.
Back to top
MONTREUX 2002 (march
2002)
Milia 2002 was also the occasion for FIAM to tell journalists
and representatives of multimedia associations present
in Cannes, during a press conference, of the upcoming
3rd international Summit of Internet and Multimedia,
to be held in Montreux, Switzerland, October 8-11, 2002).
We remind you that the Summit, entitled Bridging the
Digital Divide : the Multimedia Industry Speaks Out,
is gearing up to become a unique venue for discussion
and debate on hands on approaches to fighting the Digital
Divide.
Several international organizations have shown great
interest in participating in the discussions among whom
we cite the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
which has chosen our event as a preparatory to the one
it is organizing on behalf of the United Nations on
the Information Society (Geneva, December 2003), the
European Union which has put into place several e-policy
initiatives and programs and the OECD which, over the
past few years, has looked into the issue of the Divide
from a regulatory, open competition and telecommunications
infrastructure perspective.
Back to top
January
2002
MILIA 2002 (january
2002)
For the second year in a row, FIAM will be in Cannes
for MILIA 2002, February 4-8. This time, however, you
will be able to find us at a stand we will be sharing
with member association and Summit partner, SwissMedia.
We will take this opportunity to hold a press conference
on February 7th at 10:00 am (auditorium J, Level 4),
announcing the Montreux October 8-11 Internet and Multimedia
Summit and are planning to meet one-on-one with available
member associations present at MILIA in order to inform
them of accomplishments during 2001 and of FIAM future
plans and projects for the upcoming year.
FIAM member associations will receive additional information
regarding our trip to Cannes as well where to find us
in MILIA. You will also receive beforehand, through
email, documentation regarding projects we will undertake
in the next few months as well as a questionnaire that
will kick start FIAM's strategic planning process. During
the aforementioned requested one-on-one meetings, members
of FIAM executive staff will present these projects
and seek your input.
Our Communication and Marketing Coordinator, Mrs. Aurore
Sun, will get in touch with you to inform you of FIAM's
MILIA logistics.
Back to top
|
