The
Information Source for Multimedia Associations
Visit
www.fiam.org
Contact info@fiam.org
VERSION
FRANÇAISE :
CLIQUEZ ICI
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The
Information Source for Multimedia Associations Visit
www.fiam.org |
| Vol.3 n.1 - October 2001 |
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Quote du jour "Everybody is talking about how can we create business out of helping the poor, which is good. But I don't think people have understood that the Digital Divide is about all other divides, it's not just a digital divide, it's a divide in education, it's a divide in health, it's a divide in infrastructure, it's a divide in power." (SAM PITRODA, Chairman and CEO of WorldTel, Communications International - May 2001) |
IN THIS ISSUE A word from the President Editorial : Back To (Real) Business ! FIAM news Associations news Multimedia News |
 A word from the President, Mr Hervé Fischer  We
have joined the age of networks. According to the political thinker Jeremy
Rifkin, the new economy is no longer based on property alone but on the
exchange of information, knowledge and cultural experiences. Such is also
the vision of FIAM since its inception. The purpose of this online newsletter
is to support this exchange of ideas and projects in order to better know
each other, to establish stronger means of collaboration between our associations
and their members and to be the international voice bringing to the fore
our concerns, hopes and solutions, be they cultural or industry related. |
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Back To (Real) Business! As all of us were waiting to see if the American economy would kick start this fall, since Sept. 11 tragic events in New York and Washington have shaken up the world, and analysts feel now that they might finally drag the economy into a recession they believed could have been avoided by the fourth quarter of this year. The amazing growth cycle witnessed over the past five years was brutally interrupted last year when people realized that it would not be possible to maintain indefinitely profitless companies. This economic model is over. We have to get back to real business where investors know what they are investing in and what the possible return on investment can be. And this has to be based on knowledge of the technology, its potential in terms of productivity gain and technological enhancement for the benefit of the industry and the consumer. At FIAM, we believe that the keywords should be cooperation and exchange;cooperation between multimedia industries from around the world and exchange of technological know-how and expertise in the various multimedia fields. We will be working at FIAM with these two notions in mind, striving to establish and develop those crucial and requisite links between our associations and their members. Given the effect of globalization on the development of the Information society, more and more countries are jumping onto the digital bandwagon. But not all countries have the means and the IT infrastructure to compete with North America and Europe. Our next Summit in Montreux (June 2002) will delve into these notions of cooperation and exchange as the World multimedia industry gathers in the Swiss city to discuss the issues surrounding the Digital Divide with the attempt to provide solutions and strategies in the area of cooperation and exchange among the various multimedia actors. This monthly newsletter is intended to inform you of all worldwide Internet and multimedia news and issues you might find of interest. We will publish interviews, articles, reports, profiles on various aspects of the industry and we eagerly welcome your contributions. You can also forward your comments and opinions for discussion. |
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| 'Abu
Dhabi does the Net' FIAM second international Summit took place in Abu Dhabi (UAE) April 22-25, 2001, in cooperation with the Cultural Foundation of Abu Dhabi. The event was entitled Content in Digital Era : Issues of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and sponsored by the national Telecommunications company ETISALAT. The sessions went quite nicely as close to 45 speakers from around the world came to share their thoughts and opinions on the aforementioned subject. The main objective of the Summit was to better grasp the technological, economical and political processes surrounding the creation, distribution of localized Internet and multimedia content, a central element in the current debate regarding the protection of cultural and linguistic diversity across the net. We should be posting on our website streaming videos of most sessions and conferences as soon as the technology will allow for it. In the meantime, if you want a visual recollection of the Summit and its surroundings, check our site www.fiam.org. New members for FIAM Board of Directors FIAM Board of Directors met on the last day of the Summit (25th of April) to review the activities of the Federation during the last year and to elect a new executive. We are happy to announce the re-election of the current president, Mr. Hervé Fischer, and the election of two new members : from Jordan, Mr. Ramzi Khouri as observer (he is the Head of soon to be launched Arab Media Association) and from Belgium, Mr. Philippe Wacker (General Secretary of the European Multimedia Forum). All other Directors have been re-elected to new terms. Where are we going: FIAM sets its priorities for 2001-2005 : The Federation is about to begin the process leading to its next Strategic Plan. This important exercise, to be undertaken in cooperation with our associations worldwide, will allow us to identify the issues to work on in the near future, establish a set of priorities and formulate cohesive and manageable strategies to attain them. The Director of Content and Strategic Development of FIAM, Nasser Boumenna, will be in charge of managing the planning process and will soon be in touch with you to initiate the gathering of information. A questionnaire will be sent to you, followed by targeted phone conversations (the email will also be put to contribution). For more information on the Strategic Plan, you can reach Nasser at nboumenna@fiam.org. SEE YOU IN MONTREUX 2002 After Montreal in 1999 and Abu Dhabi in 2001, FIAM is already on to its third Summit to be held in the city of Montreux (Switzerland), June 11-14, 2002. The Summit, entitled Bridging the Digital Divide : The Multimedia Industry Speaks Out, is sponsored by Hewlett Packard. We will examine and discuss current and future trends and experiences in the area of technology and expertise transfers in Internet and Multimedia. Drawing from the varied experiences of our associations in different parts of the world, the Summit will show how local and regional multimedia industries are dealing with the issue of the Digital Divide and what efforts they are making to address it. The Summit's main objective is to demonstrate the level of technological, social and political engagement at stake, involving a multitude of international, national and local actors in the field of IT. It will tackle various issues among which, Internet and multimedia content development, IT infrastructure in developing countries, Internet governance, universal access to IT and digital literacy and training. The Summit will examine concrete public and private sector IT efforts and initiatives underway in different parts of the world and will provide background on the issues surrounding the Digital Divide, especially at the institutional level. For more information on the Summit, please check www.fiam.org or www.internetworldsummit.org (the site is still under construction). GITEX 2001 The Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Quebec has asked FIAM, on the strength of its experience in the Middle East, to organize for the third consecutive year, Quebec's trade mission to GITEX 2001 taking place in Dubai from October 14-18, 2001. GITEX is the third largest trade show in the world dedicated to the IT industry and the Middle East's premier IT event. In partnership with that Ministry, FIAM will be heading to the Emirates with a dozen Internet and multimedia companies, among which Bluesponge, Electroline, Funkey Studios, Purkinje and Hyperchip, all interested in developing business ties with regional IT and multimedia companies. The Emirate of Dubai is very active in the development of a strong, regional Internet and multimedia industry. Over the past two years, governmental authorities, under the leadership of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed, have forged ahead with several ambitious IT projects for the purpose of attracting talent and investments, among which Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City. For more Information on GITEX 2001, please see www.gitex.com and for Dubai's IT projects, please refer to www.dubaiinternetcity.com and www.dubaimediacity.com. MIM 2001 In less than a month (October 3-5, 2001, Montréal), the Marché International du Multimédia (MIM) will open its doors for the 8th time. For those who never attended one, the MIM is a trade show fully devoted to the Multimedia industry at large and is seen by most as an ideal entry point into the North American IT and Multimedia market. The overall theme of this year's event is Technological innovations and market convergence. The show is divided into two parts : a trade component for international and national companies (this year the United States are heading a large delegation) presenting their technologies and services and a conference during which speakers will discuss the evolution of the multimedia industry at large. This year, the MIM has invited several very important conference speakers of the Multimedia world : Martin Freeth from NESTA (UK), Ken Papagan from DelmarMedia.net and Kevin Warwick from Reading University, to name only a few. For more information about the full event, click on www.mim-montreal.com. |
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| Senegal
OSIRIS, the Senegalese Observatoire sur les systèmes d'information, des réseaux et les inforoutes (Africa), has launched, in early August, a project entitled Caravan-Multimedia in partnership with Worldspace and local governmental and business organizations. Objective number one : familiarize the local populations of rural areas and smaller urban centres with Internet and multimedia tools of all sorts. Click on www.caravane-multimedia.sn for more details on the project. Jordan
Europe
Brazil/Chile
United
States Malaysia
India
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| The
UNDP loves IT
In its newly published Human Development Report, entitled Making New Technologies Work for Human Development and published this summer, the United Nations Development Program is betting that Information Technology will play a very important role in the economic and social development of developing countries. Technology, it argues, could be the engine of growth for poor countries and an appropriate tool for improving the standard of living and the overall conditions of the populations at large. The past decade has witnessed major developments in the area of telecommunications and information technology, medicine and agriculture. The report is quite comprehensive with data and information on major aspects of the IT industry and its use across the world. You can also find an analysis of national strategies regarding the development of a strong IT industry and a comparative study of IT process implementation on a regional basis. For the complete document, please refer to www.undp.org. UNESCO and the issue of languages on the Net At the end of July, UNESCO officials have tabled a project recommending the promotion and usage of Multilinguism and universal access in Cyberspace. One of the challenges of numerous Internet minded national and international organizations is to ensure that the cyberspace be the place where all languages of the planet can be understood and utilized. UNESCO has been active the past years in the field of multilinguism and has created the Babel Initiative intended to promote the use all languages on the Internet, protect languages spoken by minorities and support activities that allow for the dissemination of a rich cultural information on the Net. The Initiative focuses on two major ideas : (1) develop the technical capabilities allowing for smooth translation and language interoperability within the Net, and (2) elaborate efficient strategies in the field of language education at the national level. For the latest on the Babel Initiative, please click on www.unesco.org. |
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This Newsletter
© 2001 FIAM (Fédération Internationale des Associations
de Multimédia) |