11 future needs for future policy makers in the media industry ??

I had the pleasure to give the closing keynote and moderate the panel for the future needs regarding upcoming European policy agenda at the Media Innovation Xchange Conference by The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The 11 needs are:?

1. A need to… truly grasp the changing audience needs.
2. A need to … not just address what big tech should do better, and instead see what we can do better in Europe in a collaborated effort.
3. A need to … tear down the silos and understand that everything merges.
4. A need for … human in the loop.
5. A need for… equal access to new technologies and tools.
6. A need to … build new approaches to creating trust in a digital landscape.
7. A need for … shared standards – especially navigating AI.
8. A need for … more flexibility in order to act and build capabilities faster exploring new business models.
9. A need to… support the innovators – not fight them.
10. A need for…? the policy makers to acknowledge that we can’t predict the future, but we can prepare for it.
11. A need for…? futuredriven human-centered radical innovation.

Everyone working in the media sector needs to wake up and recognise that something drastic must be done to safeguard the future media landscape, but how can we navigate the challenges and opportunities that are transforming media at an unprecedented rate?

?My task as a futurist is to explore potential futures, and unfortunately there are some rather dystopian possible scenarios ahead if we don’t act; so let's start proactively building an ambitious, futuredriven European media landscape that we desire ??

As part of my keynote I was asked to identify the future needs based on the input during the conference.

This is a transcript of my speech:

Overall, everybody here in the room seem to agree that something needs to be done - nobody seems satisfied with status quo. The media industry is in a structural crisis – but it’s hard to find the solutions!

Lack of audience engagement, declining ad revenue, a decrease in trust and no real impact are some of the challenges that media is currently facing.

Allocating innovation funds and programmes towards the protection of citizens does not guarantee engagement and relevance in a media landscape that is becoming increasingly more personalised and complex; furthermore, funding with the irrelevant, out-of-date criteria certainly does not ensure continued relevance.

It is a short-termed warmth for democracy so to speak. And not a long-term way to prepare ourselves for the future media landscape.

In my humble opinion – and pardon the chosen term – we have a tendency to piss in our pants to keep the media industry warm. As member of the Media Board in Denmark supporting media innovation I know what I talk about. But as we all know, this will only keep us warm for a short period of time. It is a short-termed warmth for democracy so to speak. And not a long-term way to prepare ourselves for the future media landscape.

?We can do better than that!

?I wish I would have had an AI device like the Rewind Pendant to synthesize all the great input from the speakers of this conference. For those of you who don’t know it, it’s a wearable AI necklace that captures everything you and your surroundings say. And even though I’ve already ordered one I don’t think it will be legal within the European boarders due to regulation. Which is good in order to protect us as citizens - but can be a challenge for innovation – even though I believe innovation and regulation can go hand-in-hand which is what we are trying to do at the Future Media Hubs.

I am part of the advisory board at the Future Media Hubs, an international network of public and commercial media companies that collaborates on innovation. You already heard the keynote of Ezra Eeman an, Strategy & Innovation Director at NPO and fellow board member at Future Media Hubs on some of the needs he identified.

?During the past couple of months, the Future Media Hubs have worked on a Vision Paper towards a European Media Innovation Agenda. In this vision paper, we outline an updated innovation agenda for the media sector addressing common creative, technological and regulatory challenges and opportunities on three core strategic areas that Rafa?l Huybrechts rechts mentioned: Data & AI, New Experiences, & Formats, Trust and business model innovation.

Many of these have been mentioned here on stage at this conference as well.

It has been a difficult task to try to wrap up the need – but here we go:

A NEED TO… TRULY GRASP THE CHANGING AUDIENCE NEEDS.

We need to spend much more time understanding the constant changes and focus more on new experiences & formats. This also implies the need to be in control of our own narratives. The need to take back control, not allowing big techs algorithms dominate our narratives. This message has echoed at this conference and is a delicate topic obviously because who should have that kind of oversight and control over our narratives? How do we create new responsible solutions that the future users will actually want engage with? As the social media influencer Kwebbelkop who has an AI influencer version of himself with over 1 mio subscribers and 20+ mio monthly views according to his presentation said; “it’s not too late to create alternatives. We need to erase that mindset”.?

A NEED TO … NOT JUST ADDRESS WHAT BIG TECH SHOULD DO BETTER, AND INSTEAD SEE WHAT WE CAN DO BETTER IN EUROPE IN A COLLABORATED EFFORT.

In the face of competition from global digital platforms, European media must innovate to remain relevant. This can involve collaborations on digital platforms, technology, and content creation. Policymakers can play a role by fostering an environment that encourages such alliances and supports this transformation of digital, as Ezra Eeman explained. There is a need to for instance focus on findability and searchability for content as Karen Donders from VRT mentioned in the session on European broadcasters.

A NEED TO … TEAR DOWN THE SILOS AND UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYTHING MERGES.

We need a new language and wording around the future media industry. What words will be used to describe media in the next 10 years? If we were to describe it from the current media landscape, what words would we use? Terms like tv, broadcasting, radio and newspaper no longer are relevant to use to describe the media industry. We need new capabilities to navigate in the new blended realities. Like when Jan Hameeuw from the virtual studio The Pack recorded a film inside a virtual world.

The lines between physical and virtual worlds merges. Synthetic content is not just about dystopian words like “deep fakes” – it’s about a completely new genre of content that we need to learn how to navigate. We need to understand that for many people, the virtual worlds are equally real as the physical world – and this can bring true value, interaction and meaning to our lives.

A NEED FOR … HUMAN IN THE LOOP.?

We need to invest in the human component. Many have mentioned the need to support human journalists and human content creators, but we also need to think on what the roles of these humans will be. What competences will be demanded. How to collaborate with new technologies. And as Tom Rubin from Open AI said in the panel earlier: “AI should be used to assist humans, not to replace humans”

A NEED FOR… EQUAL ACCESS TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND TOOLS.

There is a great risk for a very polarized media landscape due to the accessibility of these new technologies. It’s risky to work with new technologies as Eno Henze from Hyperbowl mentioned. How can we create an environment that keep this scene alive and doesn’t leave it to big tech. It’s very much a grassroot environment now and there is a need to SCALE it and grow bigger!

A NEED TO … BUILD NEW APPROACHES TO CREATING TRUST IN A DIGITAL LANDSCAPE.?

Trust in media is in decline. And with the digitalization comes a need to create new ways of trust with the audience through fact-checking, transparency, ethical journalism practices but also through community engagement in the online or virtual spaces. We need move from touchpoints to trustpoints and build trust into our approach to new technology.

A NEED FOR … SHARED STANDARDS – ESPECIALLY NAVIGATING AI.

This was stated by many during the talks. For instance, from Anna Bulakh from Respeecher who stressed the need for shared factchecking standards. But maybe in the future we need to label human created content, not synthetic content? Standards are not just a need for factchecking tools, but also for IP and ethical standards as well as interoperability in for instance virtual worlds and other kinds of industry standards.

A NEED FOR … MORE FLEXIBILITY IN ORDER TO ACT AND BUILD CAPABILITIES FASTER EXPLORING NEW BUSINESS MODELS.

?In the session about reaching younger audiences it was highlighted that there is no blueprint and no formular to success in connecting with the future audiences since the media landscape is constantly changing. This demand a new skill to be constantly preparing for the new formats, new platforms and not at least new business models.

We don’t know how the audience expectations and drivers for engagement will evolve in the future. We haven’t been hearing much about AI-powered Search Engines like Perplexity and new AI devices like Rabbit R1 and be somehow part of the information shared there? This has a potential to radically change the media ecosystem. Here I’d like to quote the #elvis from Jan Jagers from deCheckers: There is a need for a little less conversation and more action. Of course we need to talk. But we should also walk the walk. Dare to be bold, to risk, to truly innovate and not just adjust the existing the media infrastructure that is not fit for the future. All along, of course, while keeping our journalistic and public service values intact.

A NEEED TO… SUPPORT THE INNOVATORS – NOT FIGHT THEM!

There is a syndrome known as “The burden of innovation”. People working with innovation are in a constant battle to push the boundaries and this can have serious consequences on both our physical and mental health. This is also an issued addressed on the pressure all these changes are putting on all the people within the media industry. We have to remember that we are all human (at least for now) here in the room.

We need to celebrate courage and curiosity! Let’s give it up for all the great initiatives that have already been created here in Europe! Stand up innovators. All of you who have been driving innovation please stand up – stand up if you identify as an innovator! Let’s give them a big applause, and even a hug – or a high five if hugging is not your thing! Whatever you are comfortable with!?

Innovators think outside the box – place ourselves in a future that is still not here. We need to be supported! We need to start believing that we can change the world for the better.

Innovators think outside the box – place ourselves in a future that is still not here. We need to be supported! We need to start believing that we can change the world for the better.

According to the recent Trust Barometer from Edelman – Innovation is in peril. We are hit by innovation shock and the trust in innovation to solve our problems is endangered. Several media leaders have told me that I would never achieve a focus on radical innovation due to the inertia and inherent sluggishness in the media industry. The industry needs to start taking responsibility! And we need to believe that it can be done together!

A NEED FOR…? THE POLICY MAKERS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE CAN’T PREDICT THE FUTURE, BUT WE CAN PREPARE FOR IT!?

So why is this important? The programs and policies should not be too closely attached to technologies. Instead there is a need to have an explorative, open and flexible approach. This is closely related to the 11th need:?

A NEED FOR…? FUTUREDRIVEN HUMAN-CENTERED RADICAL INNOVATION

?The last one is a need that I would like to stress: The need for more futuredriven radical innovation.

We are in a completely new situation. And even though we’ve said this with almost every time a new disruptive technology has entered the media sphere, this IS different this time. And we are seeing the impacts already.

It’s time to look at the entire ecosystem and see how that will fit the future needs of the consumers, the citizens, the users of the media – and we need to be more ambitious, be willing to risk more, and to be bold enough to support the next European global super champions.?

I’d like to end with a quote by the American philosopher Eric Hoffer:

“In times of change the learners will inherit the world, while the knowers will be beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists.”

Thank you!