Event will highlight future of digital content

Feb 11 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

CREATIVE businesses and technology innovators in the North East can give their views on the future of digital content at an event this month.

The event is part of a nationwide project to help businesses exploit the next wave of the digital revolution.

It is being run by the Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), which has been established to speed up innovation in the creative industries by bringing them together with technology developers.

The event, in Newcastle, will examine how people will experience the vast amount of digital content that will be available in the next seven years, and what that will mean for the networks that will deliver it.

John Cass, director of the Creative Industries KTN, said: “The launch of the iPad shows how much interest there is in what sort of gadgets we are all going to use to access digital content and how it is going to be delivered to us.

“The North East is a hotbed for organisations that are at the cutting edge of harnessing digital technology, and we want to hear their views, opinions and experience on the changes that are impacting on this fast-moving sector.”

The KTN has already carried out a UK-wide survey plus expert interviews and published an initial report.

Delegates will discuss some of its findings to help identify what projects, actions or funding needs to be put in place to turn these ideas into reality to help creative businesses.

Early results showed correspondents felt using technology to share experiences will be more important than content, that demand to access content on the move will grow faster than at home or at work, and that creative businesses have put cloud computing and super-fast broadband at the top of their shopping list.

The event is on February 23 at the Tyneside Cinema, Pilgrim Street, from 9.30am to 1pm. In the afternoon, the KTN is staging a Digital Lounge event at which technology writer and broadcaster Bill Thompson will speak about the future of digital technology. Also present will be Ewan McIntosh, a leading expert in digital media for public services, particularly in education. For details email events@citin.org