Birmingham firms say hello to digital
Oct 24 2008 Agenda
As Birmingham hosts the Midlands' first digital festival Jonnie Turpie, Hello Digital vice chairman, looks at how the region’s creative industries are embracing digital.
Digital is changing everyone’s lives and enabling us all to be global citizens. It’s a democratising media that enables people to access information once inaccessible.
But digital is also challenging – established business models for music, media, marketing and distribution are under review every day.
The Birmingham Post has embraced digital to address the new business models the media are facing as audiences demand their news, information and entertainment where and when they want, 24/7.
Birmingham and the West Midlands have been leading the way in driving digital change. Digital Birmingham, the city council’s strategic partnership, is working with partners such as BT, the universities, the BBC and the health and voluntary sector, to deliver a dynamic agenda to put the power of technology in the hands of the people.
By 2010, the council aims to see Birmingham recognised as one of Europe’s leading digital cities.
The region already has one of the most advanced telecommunications networks and Birmingham has emerged as one of the leading wireless cities in the UK.
Channel 4 Television has chosen Hello Digital for the regional launch of 4iP, its new £50 million investment in digital media as it embraces the changes in audiences and the demands of delivering high quality public service content.
Channel 4 is opening the 4iP doors in Birmingham as AWM was the first out of the blocks to invest in the programme to enable our region’s creative and digital companies to participate, contribute and benefit though new commissioning. For the last four years AWM has backed digital media as one of its five Innovation Strategies for economic growth and we are seeing benefits as the games sector continues to expand, embracing serious games and developing virtual worlds.
The region’s creative industries are embracing digital with award winning projects like Embarrassing Bodies from Maverick’s new media team and the Art Council’s Big Picture project that broke the Guinness World Record for creating the largest photo mosaic in the world.
These projects are genuinely collaborative – something that defines successful digital media productions which demand a wide range of skills and imagination.
Hello Digital is the natural development of the Birmingham Film and TV Festival into the digital 21st century as Birmingham establishes itself as a premier digital city.
Until Sunday, Hello Digital and Hello World will bring together international digital luminaries and pioneering companies from our region, in the heart of Birmingham.
The Hello Digital showcase brings to life the innovation, creativity and commercial success of firms and organisations from across the West Midlands. Digital encourages user-generated content, accessible to people of all ages, and Hello Digital will screen both short horror films and animations created by young people from across the region, and a plethora of new digital films at Hereford’s Courtyard, Wolverhampton’s Lighthouse and Birmingham’s Electric and Odeon cinemas.
The industry conference, Hello World, is opening up the debate on the impact of digital technologies across the broadest cross section of industries, from media companies and games developers to arts organisations, education, health and the professional services sector.
Birmingham will host global corporations from across the digital spectrum, including Bebo, myspace.com, Flickr and Pixar Animation Studios.
Hello Digital promises to be the first of many as we secure Birmingham and the region’s reputation as a city of a 1000 (digital media) trades.
