The Original Sims

Paul Moore spoke at the first event to be held by the Northern Ireland Media Literacy Network last Thursday.

The Network was established following the Ofcom/University of Ulster conference Media Literacy for the 21st Century held last month. Unfortunately that event I missed, but last Thursday’s event was seriously interesting.

On the horizon is the UK Government’s Digital Britain report.  Paul outlined where the thinking for the report developed;

• The Byron Review tackling the (unlikely) idea of regulating the Internet.
• Will Hutton’s Staying Ahead for the Work Foundation
• The DCMS Creative Britain

It is thought that the Creative Industries in Northern Ireland are worth £214 million per year.  Now, I’m no economist, but I’m pretty sure that there has never been a full detailed audited piece of research into the value of Creative Industries in Northern Ireland.  I suspect that £214 million is a guess. There is a strategy  which defines the sectors and subsectors:

• Design related industries o Architecture, Craft, Design, Fashion, Antiques
• Expressive industries: Music, Performing Arts, Visual Arts,
• Media and information industries: Advertising, Film, Multimedia & Games Publishing, Software, Television & Radio.

Only £214 million?  Surely not.

Still – the initial meeting was inspiring. And I have a whole bunch off books to add to my reading list.
Digital Shock – Herve Fischer
Groundswell – Li and Bernoff
Creative Industries – John Huntley
But there was one particular piece that Paul talked about – but that’s for the next post.

The Digital Circle has been building up to its official launch and first elections for the Steering Group.  I’ve been part of this group for almost two years and I really welcome the move to be as open and as democratic as possible.  I truely believe that DC has an important role to play in Northern Ireland’s business and in particularly helping to develop the digital content industry here.

I know this blog reaches people who are involved in content creation both who might not be across the DC developments.  Have a look at the site and if you think you qualify for (free) membership, then register here:

http://www.digitalcircle.org/2008/11/05/digital-circle-membership-online-forms/

In November 2007 the Sonic Acadamy was announced as one of the winners of the Northern Ireland Department of Trade and Investment’s Broadband Content Initiative. During this series of the DC Podcast  I’m planning to look at how some of the winners have progressed since the final six were unveiled. 

In this edition, the Sonic Acadamy’s Kevin Traynor and Graham Ginty.  But first to the man who had the idea and drove the project, Paul Robinson Project Manager Department Enterprise Trade and Investment.

Download here: http://www.simsdigitalmedia.com/podcasts/

I don’t normally write about the BBC - it is my employer and it’s best to keep comments in-house in any organisation. But I’ll make an exception on this occasion.  There was never any doubt that iPlayer would be taken to the nation’s heart in quick time. I expect there is plenty of research predicting the take up in the Corporation (we BBC people tend to call it that - 4 syllables rather than 3 - that’s the way we are).  But did we expect it to be taken up so quickly?  Possibly. I don’t know.

I’m on both sides on iPlayer.  I use it – frequently – and more often the streaming rather than  download.  I don’t think I’ve downloaded anything since the streaming system started.  I’m also involved (in a very minor way) in putting programme onto iPlayer and getting feedback from the audience.  What has surprised me is the speed and number of emails I get when a programme is not almost immediately available.  (It does take time, people.  It’s mainly automated, but it still takes time.)

Now the ISPs are complaining. There is a very interesting article here. 

But this is only the beginning.  iPlayer will be joined by Kangaroo.  You already have Joost, Bablegum and others on the horizon.  There is no question that better connections will attract richer (bigger) content which should drive even better connections.

It’s a shame that NIRSucks.com has gone.  It was a long-gurn blog about being forced to use Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) and the transport company’s short comings.  But NIR doesn’t quite suck so much anymore.  Long gone are (most of) the noisy, smelly, cold, draughty, damp, toilet over flowing carriages that we used to travle in.  Pulling down the window to open the carriage door from outside then banging against the door with full force caused me several bruised ribs.

The trains (tend to) run on time.  The staff are professional and polite.  So NIR is better than it was.  Now they are planning to buy new rolling stock (I believe the technical term is) and they are surveying the customers. 

What can we expect in the future?  Wireless and electric sockets! It’s almost the 21st century here. 

The long awaited Digital Content Strategy for Northern Ireland was launched yesterday by Invest Northern Ireland.  They have been leading the development for over a year.  I came onboard more recently as a member of the Industry Advisory Panel under the chairmanship of Adrian Lennon.

There is a real feeling of progress now.  Ministerial backing from Nigel Dodds and Invest Northern Ireland is bringing a ring of reality to much of the talking and planning of the last year. 

The launch of the strategy morphed into a planning meeting for the Broadband Content Opportunity event on 30 January at the Science Park which I am MCing.  This is a good start to a new year where we will be looking forward hopefully and expectantly rather than backwards.

Belfast Telegraph report

Irish News report

FT Online

The watchdog expresses concern at the performance of Openreach and looks set to require BT to pay out to rivals struggling to gain access to its network

Digital radio stations try broadcasting sound with pictures in a bid to make radio a visual experience.

Irish Times

Mobile phone giant O2 plans to follow Vodafone into the fixed-line broadband market through the buyout of an established provider or a strategic alliance.

Huffington Post
Posted October 29, 2007 09:09 AM (EST)

….. No matter how you slice it, this new trend of ISP discrimination should send a chill draft up the spine of anyone who wants the Internet to fulfill its democratic promise of equal opportunity communication.
To do this we have to ensure that companies aren’t left to stifle our basic freedoms at their whim. Free and open communications must be guaranteed, right now, before content stifling technology becomes the Internet norm