Unexpected Media

Technology Strategy: investing in the challenge of convergence

With government funding for the creative industries under the most severe threat since the eighties, it’s worth looking closely at the opportunities that are still in place. One source of finance that so far looks likely to remain intact is the R&D investment from the Technology Strategy Board (TSB). They have a very significant budget to support innovation and are currently exploring how to shape funding calls for 2011.

The TSB published a strategy paper for the Creative Industries last year. It had five key priorities. The first of these concerned meta-data and a competition was recently announced for projects which addressed challenges in this area. The next two priority areas were contextualised as opportunities arising from ‘convergence’, a word rather like ‘innovation’: much used in the context of digital media and emerging technology but ill defined and imprecisely understood.

This is what the TSB said about the challenge of convergence:
“Technology convergence is blurring the boundaries between sub-sectors and creating both challenges and opportunities. The Technology Strategy Board has most to add by focusing on crosscutting areas.”

The two priorities related to convergence specifically identified in the paper as are:

“Improve interoperability and increasing convergence cross-platform”
“The goal here is to achieve increased technical and service interoperability between content, products and services, platforms, networks and devices. We anticipate significant benefit beyond the Creative Industries, in particular delivering broader societal value to public service sectors.”

“Promote knowledge sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration”
“With technology convergence blurring the boundaries between sub-sectors, there are benefits to be gained from transferring know-how between different Creative Industry sub-sectors. There are also opportunities to learn from industries outside of the sector. “

Against each of these priorities the TSB outlined some proposed actions. On interoperability and cross-platform convergence:

“The Technology Strategy Board will:
•    stimulate the development of new skills and cross-media collaboration to aid the development of brand new product or experience concepts that exploit integrated, pervasive environments;
•    ensure business models and transaction (including micro- transaction) systems are available to support commerce;
•    encourage the development of interface technologies and standards, where required, to increase interoperability between networks, applications platforms and devices; and
•    foster solutions to support the trading of digital assets between content creators and distribution platforms. “
And on knowledge sharing and collaboration:

“The Technology Strategy Board will:
•    provide a trusted source of knowledge on technology and market developments and provide the mechanisms for creative businesses to explore potential impacts and opportunities;
•    promote partnerships between business and academia through collaborative projects and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships;
•    signpost creative businesses to other support-agencies within the broader innovation landscape and, where needed, develop the mutual understanding necessary to facilitate successful relationships;
•    promote multidisciplinary cross- fertilisation between the Creative
•    Industries sector and other technology and market application areas supported by the Technology Strategy Board;
•    transfer creative industry know-how to other sectors, in particular to apply design thinking and creative industry solutions to societal and industry challenges.

It’s not unreasonable to assume, given that meta-data has now become the focus of a call for funding applications, that the TSB is likely to call for proposals against some of these proposed actions.  But are they the right ones? Is investment in these areas the highest priority for companies doing business in the converged media ecology?

The TSB does listen to advice from industry. They held a series of consultative meetings this time last year with businesses in the games, music and television sectors while they were planning this year’s competitions.

Now would be a good time to make your views known.  The best place to do so is in the discussion groups on the Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Networks’ (CI KTN) site.

The TSB’s funds were described at an event recently as one of the last remaining pots of gold in the public sector. Let’s make sure it’s invested where it’s needed: join the discussion here.