About IFMA
Mission

Mission

To promote international cooperation between multimedia associations from around the world.

Objectives

• To build a network of international industry leaders;
• To promote business contacts and business development in the Internet and multimedia industry;
• To adopt common positions on crucial issues regarding the Internet and multimedia industry;
• To represent the industry and promote its development with government authorities in various countries, as well as within international organizations;
• To promote the development of high-quality multimedia content in many different languages;
• To promote the exchange of technology, expertise, knowledge and experience between multimedia associations and organizations from different countries.

FIAM C NGO in Special consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations

The International Federation of Multimedia Associations (FIAM) has been granted, on July 23, 2004, a Special consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. Non-governmental, non-profit public or voluntary organizations may be admitted into a mutually beneficial working relationship with the United Nations by attaining consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. (Read more)

Background

During the Multimedia and Internet International Market (MIM) held in Montreal (Canada) in May 97, representatives from associations, companies, institutions and professionals involved with the multimedia industry in various countries joined to create an international federation to represent regional and national multimedia associations.
During the course of the meeting, founding members clearly expressed that such an association was needed to enable the industry to face the challenges caused by its tremendous growth.

President of FIAM: Hervé Fischer

Artist-philosopher, Hervé Fischer graduated from the cole Normale Suprieure (rue d'Ulm, Paris). For many years he taught sociology of communication and culture at the Sorbonne. He obtained its MBA in philosophy and PhD. in sociology. A multi-media artist and creator of "sociological art" (1971), he initiated many public participation projects with radio, television and print media in many European and Latin American countries before coming to Quebec. He was a special guest at the Venice Biennial in 1976, the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1981, and Documenta 7 in Kassel (Germany) in 1982. He had personal exhibitions at the Muse Gallira in Contemporary Art in 1976, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montréal in 1980 (a retrospective), and Mexico in 1983. In 1985, he organized Franco-Canadian participation in the Marco Polo electronic novel project which involved writers from Africa, Europe and Canada. Since 1999, he is working again as a painter of the digital age. He had one man shows at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Argentine, (2003), Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo, Uruguay (2004), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Chile, Santiago (2006).

He is co-founder and co-president (1985), with Ginette Major, of La Cit des arts et des nouvelles technologies de Montréal (the exhibition Images du Futur, the Caf lectronique (1995), the International Computer Animation Competition - Images du Futur and the Cyberworld). He is also co-founder (1986) of Infographie Canada. In 1990 he started the Quebec International Science Film Festival later called Tlscience, of which he was the executive director until 2002; in 1993 the M.I.M. (Multimedia International Market), and 1997 Science Pour Tous (a network of Quebec's science et technology institutions, of which he is president). Since 1997, he is the founder and president of the International Federation of Multimedia Associations, and has been a member of the selection committee of the Stentor Funds for new media. He is a member of many comities, such as the board of directors of SDM (Socit de dveloppement de Montral) 2002-2006, the national advisory committee for the Canadian Culture Online Program (Canadian Heritage), etc.

He has been elected holder of the Daniel Langlois chair for Fine Arts and Digital Technologies at Concordia University, Montreal, 2000-2002,and developed the concept of a media lab, the Hexagram consortium between Concordia and UQAM universities. Since 2006, he is associate professor, director-founder of the International New Media Observatory, UQM. He is a researcher at Hexagram.

In 1987 he co-authored and produced the 12-minute computer animated film "Le Chant des toiles," which won a first prize in the international computer animation competition held by the National Computer Graphics Association (USA) in 1988. He was honored by the International Society for the Arts, Science and Technology with the first Leonardo (MIT Press) Makepeace Tsao Award, shared with Ginette Major for the activities of the Cit des Arts et des Nouvelles Technologies de Montreal (1998). He has published numerous articles, papers and books on the sociology of art and communications, notably: Art and Marginal Communication (Balland, Paris, 1974), Thorie de l'art sociologique, Casterman, Paris, 1976; L'Histoire de l'art est termine, Balland, 1981; Citoyens-sculpteurs, Segedo, 1981; L'Oiseau-chat (on the Quebec identity), La Presse, 1983; La Calle ? A dnde Ilega?, Arte y Ediciones, Mexico, 1984; Mythanalyse du futur (400 p., on Internet, 'www.hervefischer.net'), Le choc du numrique (vlb ditions, Montreal, 2001, The Digital Shock, McGill and Queen's University Press, fall 2006), Le romantisme numrique, Fides and Muse de la civilisation, 2002, Les dfis du cybermonde, (direction, Presses de l'Universit Laval 2003), CyberPromthe, l'instinct de puissance, vlb, 2003), La plante hyper, de la pense linaire la pense en arabesque, vlb, 2004), Le dclin de l'empire hollywoodien, vlb, Montreal, 2004, The Decline of the Hollywood Empire, Talon Books, Vancouver, fall 2006), Nous serons des dieux, vlb, 2006.

He speaks fluently French, English, German and Spanish.

Board of Directors

President
Hervé FISCHER (Canada)
President of FIAM

Vice President
Roland GRUNDER (Switzerland)
SwissMedia

Secretary
Surbhi SHARMA (India)
Secretary General, Interactive Technology Software and Media Association (ITSMA)

Treasurer
Alexander MORA DELGADO (Costa Rica)
President, Costa Rican Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies (CAMTIC)
Vice-President, Associacion Latinoamericana de Entidades de Tecnología de la Información (ALETI)

Administrators

François ADOUE (France)
President, Multimedia Jobs Association (AME)

Jokin GARATEA (Spain)
Internationalization Director, GAIA
Associación de Industrias de las Tecnologias Electrónicas y de la Información del Pais Vasco

Peter KOCH (Austria)
President, Austrian Multimedia Association (AMMA)

Alvaro QUEZADA (Chile)
Communications Director, Multimedia Chile

Marcelo SANT'IAGO (Brazil)
President, Associação de Midia Interativa (AMI)

Amadou TOP (Senegal)
President, OSIRIS

Executive Director

Ping Li (Canada)
International Federation of Multimedia Associations

FIAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE

By-laws

Read the Federation rules.

Declaration of constitution

To read the constitution act as signed by FIAM founding members on May 23rd, 1997 in Montreal (Quebec, Canada), click here.

Discussion plan

See abreged HTML version
Download full version (.doc)

Head office of FIAM in Montreal