The cultural industries in a digital age.

Kai Salminen
Bridgehead / 2001 project
Address: Rödje-Fantsvägen, 42 01100, Ostersundom, Finland
Phone/fax: 358-9 8763315
Email: Kai.Salminen@kaapeli.fi

The cultural industries are central to the development of new technologies and a new market economy. The economic importance of the cultural industry is a well-known fact as well as its importance for the creation of new labour opportunities. The cultural industries are one of the fastest growing sectors of the modern industrial society. In this perspective the developing market economies of Russia and the East European societies offers a unique opportunity also for European industrial initiatives.

A balanced and democratic development of theses markets is of vital importance not only for the industrial and economic future of Europe but also for European security and stability. An uncontrolled development of theses markets and societies is not only a loss of economic and cultural opportunities but also a risk for our common.

In this perspective Russia and the Russian language area cannot be ignored.

The rapid changes of the social, economical and political structures in the Russian society since the beginning of the nineties have resulted in a difficult situation also for the cultural industries. Structures that served their purpose during an earlier era have either disappeared or lost their importance as partners for co-operation and business. The new structures that emerged from this process have been running the risk to fall into the hands of groups on the fringes of the legal society or become victims of political ambitions. This has also meant that initiatives to develop a healthy market for the cultural industries in support of a democratic regionally balanced civil society has found themselves in a difficult situation. The piracy situation is a good example of a negative tendency that threatens the interest of both national and international cultural production.

As a modest answer to these questions a project called 2001 was launched by EU and Russian partners in 1999.

The 2001 project is aimed at the process of transformation of Russian and European media and cultural industries in the digital age. The common nominator for these industries is the digitalisation of production and distribution and the convergence of industries. The project wants to create a platform where European know-how can be transferred to facilitate the transformation of the Russian industries into a digital future.

Europe is living trough an intensive period of convergence and digitalisation of the traditional media industries. The European industries are in the front line of this development. In this context Russia as an important provider of content and intellectual resources is on the verge of entering the digital age. This is the reason why the 2001 project wants to create a platform where European know-how can be transferred to facilitate the transformation of the Russian industries into a digital future and become part of the European mainstream.

The aim of the project is to bring together European and Russian professionals, media projects and content providers of the media, Internet and cultural industries in order to establish lasting administrative structures for co-operation.

With the aim to increase contacts and to broaden co-operation in the areas of culture, knowledge, mass media and business the 2001 project wants to establish a creative dialogue between Russian and EU partners looking for viable solutions for joint developments in New Media, Broadcasting and Electronic Trade.

One of the central tools of the 2001 project for obtaining its goals is the creation of a Internet portal. The portal is called The Bridgehead Portal.

The portal forms an integrated part of the 2001 project as a concrete expression of the work and services offered by the partners. It also provides a ground for project development, localisation and commercial applications. The Bridgehead Portal is the gateway of the 2001 project to the general audience. It is a way of inviting new partners and provide a forum for discussion and commerce.

The portal aims at forming a “test area” for co-operational projects already existing or to be developed during the project period. Ultimately it will provide a viable and financially solid forum for networking of European and Russian professionals, media and content providers.

Initially the portal will include the following subject areas: Culture and Knowledge, Civil Information Society, New Media and Broadcasting, Electronic Trade, Russian and EU Co-operation.

The Bridgehead Portal is not a goal in itself. It can only be motivated through the results it has set up to achieve and the degree of financial success it is able to obtain. The portal is a Business-to-Business forum for the rapidly growing new media and broadcasting industries. This industry is characterised by both a high level of fragmentation as well as strong interrelation. Value chains usually involve multiple complex information flows and data is the industry’s main product. These characteristics create an opportunity for businesses that facilitate interaction and trade within this industry using network platforms such as the Internet.

The profile of The Bridgehead Portal

The Bridgehead Portal is a Business-to-Business portal aimed at the professional community with a large public access area. The public access area provides public information, an open forum area for discussions on topics related to the aims of the portal, local contact information, exhibitions of digital art, presentations of local events and areas for e-commerce. This area of the portal is aimed at a much larger community than the purely Business-to- Business area of the portal.

The intention with an active and attractive public access area is to provide services, cultural information and entertainment to the “reference group” of the professional community and to create an atmosphere of openness and inspiration.

The entry into the Business-to-Business area is restricted by membership and it is at the service of the professional community.

Local and global

The strength of the Internet is its global approach but at the same time it is one of its fundamental weaknesses. The global point of view has a tendency to become “no-mans-land”. The Bridgehead Portal sees the localisation of the services offered as a fundamental feature to secure a successful operation.

The portal will create a strong local public access area and offer its non-Russian partners tools for localisation of their material and services. This can only be done trough partnerships commercially and culturally connected to the Russian market.

The adaptation of the Russian content to fit the needs of the EU partners is of central importance for the success of the portal. The linguistic obstacles should be overcome by translating central parts of the material and by offering automatic translation services. Formats of presentation of Russian material should be adapted to be compatible with European and international standards. The technical adaptation and translation would make the Russian content available for a large market and create a basis for joint efforts and business as well as culture.

The audience

Members of the media industry in Russia as well as in other parts of the world have a high level of connectivity to the Internet and are heavy users of e-mail and other online services. This makes them “natural” users of the services offered by The Bridgehead Portal.

All the participants in the media and cultural world, whether they are creators, producers, distributors, researchers, television buyers and commissioners, financiers, sales agents, facility companies, multimedia directors or institutions, depend on each other and constitute an overlapping series of internal and external markets. They are the core customers of The Bridgehead Portal.

They are the people we are looking for!

Studies:

La Sorbonne Paris, 1967 – 1968; University of Helsinki, Faculty of Humanistic sciences, 1969 –1973; Svenska Normallyceum; 1959 – 1967

Present occupation:

Project development on the Russian market in the field of New Media and Broadcasting.2000.-

Project 2001 financed by the Ministries of Communication, Foreign affairs and Ministry of Culture of Finland with the aim of establishing a platform for Electronic trade and co-operation within the content industries.

Former occupation:

Consultancy for the chairman country of the European Union 1999- 2000.

Analysing and developing the future perspectives of co-operation between The European Union and Russia in the field of cultural industries.

Head of the European Unions Media Desk in Finland (A function of The Media Programme of the European Union) 1994 – 1998.

Managing and advising on European support systems for the audio-visual industries and co-productions.