M.O.D.E Model/Position Paper On Current Challenges Of Digitalization

New media is a process of creative goods and services that both develop and add value to an original piece of content to produce a deliverable, a new product to the viewer or consumer.
This association of artistic talent combines skills and services to produce a product. The creative process begins immediately when content is discovered.

The beginning stages of creation are the hardest to accomplish because this takes the up front talents and services of a content creator. This content becomes "More" as a product content can be better used to tell a larger story or used in Cultural tourism technologies. These combined skills of the content creator need to factor into existing business practices and models.

When working on a project such as the railway worker's protection and preservation project . It is up to the content creator to develop a frame work and produce the resources necessary and to create a team of individuals that will work together to develop and produce the project.

Currently the business process is flawed and the pre-development phases are not factored into the project. This time and work is lost and their is an expectation that this work is free.
This is a recipe for failure and we simply need to look and any other project to see this planning and development flaw in the current model used today in Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island for new media projects .

This content creation process is often overlooked by existing new media business models and understood by too few gate keepers and creates a problem for the new media industry in that it creates to many different rules for to many levels of municipal provincial and federal funding agencies.
The task of digitalizing our heritage is big enough but when these levels of governments are disjointed and non functional the problem become impossible and when combined with inappropriate business models that look solely at the end deliver ables and not the work that goes into the pre-development and pre-production work, it creates distrust and break downs in the creative process of new media creation.
Today the digital challenge is in finding business models that provide security and accountability at all levels of cultural content creation. So people can communicate and contract effectively to produce Canadian content . Other wise we are waisting the time of creative people that are working hard to create content for Canadians. The new economy must address these needs to create an atmosphere of opportunity and trust.

If the artifacts and the history of our nation are to be digitalized for future uses we need common communication so that the business of digital projects is understood by all involved.

These projects require a business model that includes post production and pre-development stages of content creation.

When there is no common language among producers and gate keepers it creates the impression of a system that is difficult and problematic. Successful projects need to include pre-development and post production costs.

other wise the content creator will lose out in the pre-development stages of content creation and the process of re-numeration will not be factored into the project.

The question needs to be asked. How many workers would work under these rules of operation. How many projects would become a reality if planning and development costs were not factored in.

So the content creators must take on the task of building a common language and a common business model in initial collaborations and partnerships. A model that addresses the front end loaded cost of a project. Like all other projects that require planning and development costs

Many new media projects are developed with good intentions but the reality is that the content creators are at risk of losing creative time and the normal re numeration that is expected for pre-production and development phases of the project. Often the recipients of this work are people who benefit by using a system that both confuses the creative society and the viewers of the production. The content creator dose not see the outcome of the work because it is not understood.

How many people are ready to work within these unfair and unjustified guidelines where the producer is unrewarded. Only artists would take such a risk.

So it is under these guidelines we go forward in the hope that society will create processes that nurtures the new economy and rewards the artist and provides a safe environment that produces good digital development and production relationships and economic benefits to the people do the work. The creative artist who risks all to create.

I know who loses. The creative Artist, because once again our creative services are overlooked in most current business models.
However the cultural community is valued only when re numeration is transparent and accountable to all phases of the work involved.The day of the starving artist has not passed and the lack of desire to create a working business model for the creative sector is convenient and is not happening at the grass root levels and the privileged few are the gate keepers. Who keep asking for more creative energy and pay nothing in return.

We need to see change so that artists are valued and are paid.

The M.O.D.E. model works on collaboration and service for payment at all level of content development and production stages and rejects any attempt to high jack the process . It values communication and good contracts that are based upon mutual respect and clear goals and objectives.

The problem is that current business models for content production are not woven into the main streams of the cultural industries.gate keeper are operating on to many models that do not work and cause failure and mistrust. There is no common knowledge to rely on or to refer to and depends to much on misinterpretation by people who do not understand the creative industry sector.

This leaves to much room for manipulation and confuses most involved in the business of digitization.