The Information Source for Multimedia Associations

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Editor : Nasser Boumenna
Design : Mathieu Grenier
VERSION FRANÇAISE : CLIQUEZ ICI

Quote of the month

“The problem is that the deck is stacked so much in favour of the big guys that the smaller start-ups and independent software developers are in increasing danger of getting shut out of the game. In the aftermath of the dot-com implosion and the accelerating cycle of company consolidation, the constellation of power in the software industry is more rigid than at any time in the recent past. That hardly augurs well for the future of innovation, because the good stuff in the computer industry usually percolates up, not down.” (Charles Cooper, CNET Asia, 14/02/2002)

IN THIS ISSUE
FIAM news
Associations news
Multimedia News
Interview : Kiran Karnik

To become a FIAM member... Please check Members section in our website.

Amman welcomes a new Arab Media Association

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.

Newcomer : 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.

MONTREUX 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?

For more information on the Summit, you can check the program www.fiam.org or www.internetworldsummit.org

FIAM Strategic Plan 2002-2005 : 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

ASSOCIATIONS NEWS - BY COUNTRY

India
Three fundamental shifts seem to have caught the attention of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and consultancy firm Mc Kinsey in their soon to be released IT in India study. 1) Near term demand has shifted from new application development to maintenance/ product enhancements as customers are cutting IT budgets and getting more focused on existing investments. Out-sourcing is expected to accelerate and different customer segments with unique needs are expected to emerge. Pricing pressures are beginning to surface for both large and small Indian players 2) Global system integrators are increasingly leveraging India to offer off-shoring as an integral part of their offering 3) India will see competition from emerging locations, particularly China in the next few years with the immediate threat in R&D services.

Spain (1)
Another joint study by the Spanish Information Technology Association (SEDISI) and DMR Consulting attests to the growth of Internet in the Spanish workplace. 70% of Spanish companies use the Internet and this number should increase to 91% by 2004. Entitled Information Society Technologies and the Spanish Enterprise, this study seeks to evaluate the speed at which companies are introducing digital technologies and tools in their everyday activities. Spanish companies are increasingly using these technologies but still lag when compared to most OECD countries in the area of computer use per company (85% versus 96%), Internet access (70% versus 90%) or B2B commerce (19% versus 30%). On a sector by sector basis, it is the Spanish financial services sector that is at the vanguard of such use.

Spain (2)
Despite the worldwide and ongoing crisis in the IT and multimedia industry, SEDISI released encouraging statistics inFebruary regarding the technology sector in Spain : overall this sector has increased by 9% in 2001 even though the PC component of it has seen a notable decrease in computer sales. On the software side, the numbers are in the double digits with computer services taking the lead. Employment was stable at 9,2% and SEDISI expects 2002 to repeat much of the same. (ZDNet-Spain, February 19, 2002)

Malaysia
In a recent announcement, the Malaysian Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry (PIKOM) was happy to state that Malaysian children are enjoying technology education that is on par with neighbouring countries and the rest of the world. PIKOM Education Committee chairman Chin Kin Onn focused on the importance of computer literacy as a tool for learning and of the need to continue investing in ICT, a concern the current government seems to share as well. Monies have been funnelled into such programs as the Smart School Project and the computerization of primary and secondary schools in rural and urban areas. Not everybody agrees though with an early introduction of computers in primary schools and the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has urged, over the past year, the ministries of Education as well as Energy, Communications and Multimedia to put a moratorium on the further introduction of computers in schools citing pedagogical and psychological reasons. (Source : TechStar, February 21st, 2002)

Ireland
the Irish Internet Association (IIA) is organizing, April 10th/11th IIA National Conference eZine, an event sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, SAS and IBM Software Business. The overall theme this year is convergence looked at from three critical streams of influence for Irish businesses in the year 2002 and beyond - "e-Europe, e-Government and Surviving and Thriving Techniques". In addition to speeches and presentations from a wide array of speakers, IIA is also creating a specific knowledge management instrument for the Irish Business community with a series of eZines and a specific web site to "house" the content of the conference. The conference will have a one day plenary session and a second day for workshops to allow delegates to explore in greater detail a set of chosen topics. For more information please see www.iia.ie

Canada
New Media BC is initiating a study and directory profiling the British Columbia e-Learning Supplier Sector. The goal of the study is to gain an understanding of the size and composition of the BC e-Learning supplier sector, its highlights, opportunities, and present barriers to growth. In addition, the data and information will be refreshed on an annual basis in order to track the growth of the sector and gain a view to patterns within its development. The Quebec multimedia association, Alliance numériqc, is also onto something similar with two special interest groups (réseaux d’intérêts de l’Alliance numériqc or RIAN) organized around e-learning and the production of online educational tools. The objectives of these RIAN is to better grasp the evolution of the e-learning industry in the province and see how the different public and private sector actors can integrate e-learning content and tools in the daily lives of the users, whether in schools, training centers or otherwise.

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) : The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has given cable a strong push by announcing Wednesday April 3rd, IPCABLECOM, an initiative geared toward integrating seamlessly and efficiently Internet Protocol standards in the delivery of multimedia services such interactive games, electronic commerce and streaming media applications (voice and video conferencing). The potential for exponential growth in the delivery of such services will soon be a reality and more importantly cable networks have to anticipate the demand. The 17 recommendations to IPCABLECOM meet specifications defined by cable operators and vendors in North America, Europe, and Asia and detail the interconnection requirements required to ease product implementation and deployment. These fundamental requirements range from quality of service to security interfaces. For more information on this initiative, see www.itu.int/newsroom

Digital divide in Africa : Ghana’s capital, Accra, was host to ICANN's latest get-together in mid-March and the statistics spewing out of there do not yet paint a bright picture of the evolution of Internet in the continent. According to NUA Internet surveys, Africa still lags far behind in terms of Internet usage with only 4 million users out 513 million worldwide. And of the four million users, half of them live in South Africa. The major reason explaining this weakness : the simple inexistence of telephony and electrical infrastructure in large swaths of the continent which is home to only 2% of all fixed telephone lines. The other major issue is living standards : considering their purchasing power, Africans, in general, cannot yet afford a basic PC priced on average at 1000 dollars US.
(Source : Yahoo.fr, March 16, 2002)
Who is using the Internet : According to Nielsen/NetRatings, close to 500 million people worldwide have Internet access at home, a 5% increase since 2000, with North America showing the greatest number of Net surfers but the slowest growth rate of all. It is estimated now that 8% of the world’s population of nearly 6.2 billion people have Internet access. While the U.S. and Canada's Internet access count increased by 6.1 million people to reach 191.7 million - or 39 percent of the global total - North America's 3.2 percent growth rate is behind all other areas of the world. In the Europe/Middle East/Africa region, Internet connectedness grew by 4.9 percent to 134.7 million. Asia-Pacific showed a 5.5 percent gain to 110.1 million and Latin America increased 3.5 percent to 20.7 million and the world's remaining countries recorded 14-percent growth. (Source : Newsbytes, March 6, 2002)

And for what purpose? : According to a new study on Internet use in the United States, by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Americans are increasingly using the new medium for serious and functional purposes, that is “as Internet users gain experience online, they increasingly turn to the Internet to perform work-related tasks, to make purchases and do other financial transactions, to write emails with weighty and urgent content, and to seek information that is important to their everyday lives.” This has lead Pew to conclude that the status of the Internet is shifting from being the “dazzling new thing to being a purposeful tool that Americans use to help them with some of life's important tasks”. Not surprisingly, the most popular application is email with more than 50 million people addicted to it.

The Interview

We are initiating a regular series of interviews with heads of multimedia associations from around the world. The purpose of the interviews is to give you, the reader, a closer look at the people and the issues that are part and parcel of the multimedia industry in different countries and regions of the world. We have asked Kiran Karnik, President of NASSCOM, India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies to kindly answer a few questions. See the complete version of this interview.

How would you define your Association?

NASSCOM's mission is to make the Indian IT software service sector a pre-eminent global player. To facilitate this, NASSCOM works on advocacy to ensure industry-friendly government policies and seeks to create and promote the “India Inc.” brand abroad. It was formed in 1988 with the primary objective of being a catalyst for the growth of the software-driven IT industry in India. NASSCOM has currently over 870 member companies who collectively contribute to more than 95% of revenues of the software industry in India.

What best describes, in general terms, the multimedia domains of activity in whiich your members are active?

The Software and Service industry has been one of the catalysts in promoting multimedia and related services in India. Indian software companies have a comprehensive pool of varied skills for multimedia development. The initiatives range from products and services to establishing multimedia infrastructure. The expertise ranges from multimedia authoring; animation; multimedia databases; digital content; user interfaces to new media publishing. The segments include business systems, education, computer based training, research & development and very recently E-learning. Some Indian IT companies are also focused towards developing applications for 3D animation and games.

What are, at the national level, the Multimedia areas of activity your Association has identified and is currently working on?

In order to give a strong boost to the multimedia industry, NASSCOM has recommended certain steps to the government of India. These include promoting multimedia content development both for local as well as export markets, creating a ‘National Internet Strategy & Backbone’ to increase Internet penetration and delivery of quality converged digital services across the country, working towards creating localized multimedia applications.

If your Association is currently developing business relationships with other Associations abroad, can you specify the reasons and the strategies?

Nasscom plays an active role in the international software community. We are a member of the Asian Oceania Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO). We are also a founding member of the World Information Technology and Services Alliances (WITSA). NASSCOM has also signed Memorandum of understandings with numerous international IT organizations.

Does your government play an important role in developing the multimedia industry in your country?

The Government of India has drafted the Convergence Bill, which will soon be passed by Parliament. The Bill lays down the regulatory framework, which will help companies emerge stronger in this new area and conduct business seamlessly. The government has also been active in ensuring a robust telecommunications network across the country to enable growth of new media. The government is moving towards allowing Internet Telephony from April 2002 and increasing broadband penetration by encouraging private players to set-up high-speed, high-bandwidth data networks.

How is your Association responding to the rapidly changing digital environment?

NASSCOM works actively with the government and industry to boost digital and multimedia penetration across the country. NASSCOM has established a special forum on IT Enabled Services that has identified growth areas in the areas of content development and animation. NASSCOM has also conducted a specific study with the Boston Consulting Group to identify the e-commerce potential in India also specifically across the top 5 verticals.

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