Industry leaders take first steps in developing technology roadmap for new media

Leaders from Canada's new media sector met February 8 as part of a year-long process to define the training, legislative, regulatory, policy and funding conditions necessary to sustain and grow the sector over the next five years. One of first hurdles is deciding how new media content creation fits into a Technology Roadmap (TRM). The Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC) and Industry Canada kicked off the process in Ottawa with a day-long visioning meeting with more than 40 industry stakeholders representing content creation, academia, funding, government and film and television. Much of the discussion focused on how to ensure the TRM goes beyond hardware and software. "A technology roadmap is ... really is about content and dynamic content and interactivity and what that means for the future," says Diane Williamson, VP of interactive at Toronto-based Marblemedia and a member of the TRM's expert working group (see list below). Susan Annis, executive director of CHRC, says a TRM traditionally tracks where technology is going over the next five to 10 years, but content had to be included in the case of new media because of its symbiotic relationship with technology. "It's essentially an impossible task but it's a really interesting exercise to try and put your mind that far ahead and think where are we and where would Canada be in particular," says Mark Sandiford, president of PEI's Beachwalker Films and another member of the expert working group. He adds that the number and diversity of the stakeholders and the combination of technology and content added to the challenge and slowed progress of the visioning meeting, but progress has always been slow when trying to define new media. "We've been at it such a long time you'd think we'd be able to answer a simple question like what is new media?" says Sandiford. "The answer just doesn't drip off the lips in a nice, simple concise form. It turns out to be a very complicated question." When the 14-member working group reconvenes in March and again in June it will have the harder task of defining the training, legislation, regulations, policies and funding necessary to enable new media content creators to realize their potential over the next five years. Sandiford says there is no shortage of discussion points. "We could spend an awful lot of time unproductively just discussing issues over and over again and I think we have to set ourselves a goal of something that's realistic and that we can actually put our heads down and try to accomplish," he says. The roadmap developed by the working group will be presented to all the members of the visioning meeting in September for validation, and any regulatory recommendations will be passed on to policy makers. Considering the CRTC is also currently undertaking a new media initiative, this could be a big year for new media policy. "I think these are really important and I think ultimately recommendations need to be made because public policy is formed by the people who create the programs that support the industry, and if they don't get clarity on a message, it usually doesn't end up on the policy agenda," says Marblemedia's Williamson. "So I think to bring the people together for the discussions and to have a message to be able to take forward to public policy makers is critical." TMR Expert Working Group Wayne Clark, senior program officer, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Angele Beausoleil, senior strategist, Fjord Interactive Diane Williamson, VP interactive, Marble Media René Barsalo, director, Strategy and Networking Society for Art and Technology Paul Stacey, director of development, BC Campus Don Presant, president, Learning Agents Inc. Dan Irish, CEO, Threewave Software Mark Sandiford, president, Beachwalker Films Malcolm Levy, producer, New Forms Festival Kevin McNulty, president, Terris Hill Charles Zamaria, financial director, Independent Production Fund Herb Enns, professor, Department of Architecture, Chair, Experimental Media Centre, University of Manitoba Ana Serrano, director, habitat, Canadian Film Centre

Industry leaders take first steps in developing technology roadmap for new media

Broadcast | February 27, 2008

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