The Government needs to take action in order to assist the Australian digital content industry.
In a recent submission to the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, AIMIA provided an analysis of the "Web-based" industries and suggested some ways in which Government might help put the Australian digital content industry centre stage.
AIMIA's research highlighted the damaging effects that a lack of coherent vision for new media has had on the industry. The research also found that a lack of leadership has hindered the bringing together of new and technologically converging parties.
The Australian new media landscape is one where interoperability is a problem, the management of rights and intellectual property is still a vexed issue, business models are unclear and we have no coherent plan for marketing and distributing digital media products.
To top it off, the one essential requirement for the critical mass of users to make the industry viable--available and affordable bandwidth--is still a dream. Little wonder that the content industries find it difficult to attract the sort of investment that they need to successfully commercialise their products.
There is a certain irony in this situation. The Australian Bureau of Statistics informs us that more than one third of Australian homes now have Internet access (Internet access figures are expected to reach 51 percent by November 2001), and our kids spend more time on their computers and accessing the Internet than they spend skateboarding and bike riding.
But an estimated 75 percent of accessible digital content comes from the US. Australian cultural resources and images of Australia and Australians are almost non-existent. In the fields of entertainment, education and the arts, our established cultural industries, there are few Australian products of national significance and even fewer of international standing. Indeed, it is conceivable that the majority of the ideas, information and images to which Australian children will be exposed online will have been created in other countries and reflect the values of other cultures.
So what's the answer? On the visionary front, AIMIA would like to see the Australian government set up a digital media fund, specifically to encourage the development of quality Australian content. If it is even half true that it takes 200 hours to produce one hour of quality digital content, it is obvious that Australian creators need some financial assistance, similar to their counterparts in the film industry. A digital media fund (AIMIA will happily and competently manage it!) could provide seed funding and/or investment funding for projects that would then attract commercial investment.
AIMIA would also like to see government support for an Australian Cultural Warehouse--Web site which linked national cultural institutions, housed Australian cultural materials, and used a digital rights management system to enable producers to access, license, create, and commercialise Australian cultural products. It is not inappropriate that such a project form part of the proposed new ICT Centre of Excellence announced by the government in its Innovation Statement earlier this year. There is a very good argument that a government that was serious about "Backing Australia's Ability" as the innovation statement was titled, should turn its attention to digital content where we have an admirable track record.
On the leadership front, can someone in government bite the bullet and make the changes necessary for all Australians to have access to broadband technology--through DSL, cable, or satellite--and to have it at a price that attracts rather than frightens consumers? And if this initially costs a great whack of money--and upsets carriers, bad luck.
We have a nascent digital content industry in Australia with the potential to produce and export quality digital media. If we don't take some action to place the digital content industries centre stage, the result for digital media may well be an unceremonious "Exit--Stage right".
Lynne Spender is the Executive Director of the Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association. She can be contacted on 02 9252 4940 or at director@aimia.com.au
