New ‘Digital 4C’ conference to reflect on digital cultural production and consumption

Barcelona (ACN).- Coinciding with the Mobile World Congress, the Catalan Ministry of Culture has organised the conference ‘Digital 4C’, which aims at “providing answers” to questions about digital contents and “bring closer” the world of technology and culture. The EBook, music, the audiovisual sector and video games will be the main topics of discussion among professionals through seminars, roundtables, lectures and meeting points to exchange about past experiences and new initiatives. A week ago, when the conference was presented, 500 people had already registered to attend at least one of the scheduled activities. Barcelona holds such an event as part of the Mobile World Capital project, a title the city was awarded for the 2013-2018 period and which may be further extended, in order to act as the main international platform for the mobile-related industry. ‘Digital 4C’ will be held at the Arts Santa Mònica Centre on the 27^th and 28^th of February, overlapping with the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest fair in the sector which ends on Thursday.

Cultural companies from many different sectors were invited to attend ‘Digital 4C’ on the 27^th and the 28^th of February at Barcelona’s Arts Santa Mònica Centre, located in Les Rambles, near the statue of Colombus. They will discuss the impact the digital world has on the way citizens communicate and interact, and debate on the repercussions of such changes on consumption patterns, the production and the sales of cultural products.

Making artists and cultural companies familiar with the digital world

Based on the fact that these changes in consumption patterns affect artists from different cultural sectors in Catalonia and that they “force them to understand and use new languages ​​and new forms of production and communication”, the ‘Digital 4C’ meeting was created with three main objectives in mind, according to the Catalan Government’s Ministry of Culture. Firstly, to act as a meeting point between “state of the art technology” and companies creating cultural contents. Secondly, to make artists and Catalan cultural companies familiar with all aspects of digital contents and its various commercial platforms. And finally, “to promote the uniqueness and expertise” of Catalan artists and cultural enterprises and “give them the tools in the field of digital contents”.

The Catalan Government’s General Director for Creation and Cultural Industries, Jordi Sellas, added that the event is open both to “native digital” companies (recently created with a digital profile from the start) and to older established companies “that need to catch up with digital tools”. In this respect, as mentioned beforehand, the event is looking to be a meeting point for all companies in the cultural sector, regardless of their background in the digital environment.

‘4C Digital’ (Foresee Digital) or ‘Cultural and Creative Catalan Contents’ will include round tables, lectures and conferences about the Ebook, music, the audiovisual sector and video games, as the central themes of this first edition.

Multinationals will participate in the event

The conferences will be given both by Catalan professionals and representatives of international companies who are experienced in cultural production in the digital realm. The General Director of Libranda, Arantza Llarrauri, the President of Nice People at Work, the Director of Neogames Association (Finland), KooPee Hiltunen, or the Developer responsible for the contents and media strategy of MediaCity (Finland), Simon Staffan are all expected to intervene.

Regarding round tables, the most awaited participants are the Director of Google Books, Google News and Google Play in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, Lluís Collado, the Commercial Director of Spotify in Spain and Portugal, Javier Gayoso, the CEO of Deezer in these two countries, Leo Nascimento, or the President of the Catalan company Clipper’s, Juli Guiu.

Linking mobile phone technology with culture

The Catalan Minister of Culture, Ferran Mascarell, has explained that these “sessions” were organised in the context of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona, which explains why ‘Digital 4C’ will be held simultaneously with the Mobile World Congress, as one of the fair’s side activities. In fact, the Minister praised the fact that for the very first time, the Mobile World Congress “had started to unveil the deep relationship between the mobile and Culture” what Mascarell himself had always wished for.

Moreover, the Minister of Culture said that the event hosted at the Arts Santa Mònica Centre “is part” of the future Digital Culture Plan that the department has already completed and which will be presented after the Mobile World Congress. Mascarell just announced that it is a plan which will enable “digital companies and traditional businesses with digital needs to meet” and with a special emphasis on “making more noticeable” the type of company that Jordi Sellas has referred to as “native cultural”.