New $1-million e-content fund on tap

Industry insiders have confirmed that a new $1-million e-content fund is being set up at CANARIE Inc just a few months after the organization released a major report on the need for more R&D in new media. Canadian NEW MEDIA has learned that the money will be drawn from Canadian Heritage’s Canadian Digital Cultural Content Initiative (CDCCI), and would be similar to other broadband applications programs established by CANARIE for e-health and tele-learning. The final tally for the e-content fund is expected to exceed $1 million, through contributions from the private sector and a multi-year commitment from government. Officials from CANARIE and government weren’t prepared to discuss the new program, or confirm that the money has been committed. A spokesperson with Heritage would only say that CANARIE is one of several groups the department is speaking with about potential investments. It’s no secret, however, that CANARIE’s senior director of operations, Susan Baldwin, has been lobbying for a new funding program for web-based entertainment and cultural content (CNM, March 8/01). In March, Baldwin told CNM she was hoping to create a new "dot con" (for "content") research coalition with a focus on new interfaces and forms of advanced content. At the time, Baldwin was championing a seed fund that would encourage media conglomerates such as BCE Inc and CanWest Global Communications Corp to work collaboratively to share the risk in developing online content. The announcement, when it comes, will constitute a first step towards a new emphasis on research in the multimedia field called for in a CANARIE/Delvinia Inc report released last June (CNM, June 28/01). The document, Filling the Pipe: Stimulating Canada’s Broadband Content Industry Through R&D, called for what author Sam Punnett terms "some organized means of risk funding, partnership building, and knowledge sharing." The report was the culmination of a series of five roundtables held this winter with industry players. As opposed to traditional research areas that have been well-funded, such as tele-health and distance learning, the new e-content fund will likely assist researchers in areas where little private sector incentive exists for experimentation. Such areas could include cognitive user experiences, user demographics and interactive concept development on non-traditional platforms or media. Insiders expect Heritage will begin announcing details of the CDCCI within the next several weeks. To date, the department has made no public announcements about funding winners, though a second call for proposals is underway, and several bodies including the National Film Board have begun spending money from the $108-million envelope. The timing by Heritage mandarins to openly discuss the program could be an indication of a potentially major announcement coinciding with the industry’s largest and most important event, the Baddeck International New Media Festival.

New $1-million e-content fund on tap

News | 10/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

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