The road towards inclusive cultural and creative digital ecosystems

The brand new UNESCO Global Report “Re|Shaping Policies for Creativity – Addressing culture as a global public good” provides data describing the current situation within cultural and creative sectors. The Covid-19 effect is highlighted in relation to the difficulties of accessibility to cultural venues during quarantine and the role new technologies played in its accessibility.

In light of the digitization risks that come up, the report makes recommendations on how the global community should move forward with policy recommendations to cultivate “creative ecosystems'', within the 2030 agenda of sustainability.

Trends amplified during the pandemic

The 3rd chapter highlights the impact of the accelerating digitization of culture.

The report showcases a few interesting facts and figures:

• 62.1% of total global recorded music revenues came from streaming

• Constantly increasing video-on-demand subscriptions

• Artificial Intelligence generates all the more popular and high-quality music and visual arts

• Digital Transformation is underway with a skyrocketing amount of usage of digital media usage in music and movies (Spotify and Netflix, figures from 2016 to 2021)

Source: Report

Digitization risks

The report goes on to underline the fact that digitization bears the danger of exacerbating certain inequalities. The reason lies in the prominent digital divide concerning access to the Internet and digital illiteracy across the globe. Due to these facts, remuneration models for creators prove to be unsustainable in certain parts of the world.

Admittedly, there is still uneven geographical concentration of digital skills as this graph suggests.

Source: Report

Another emerging -controversial- issue is that of net-neutrality, and the extent to which parties will have control over the internet in the future.

Therefore, digitization should not always be perceived through rose-colored glasses, as insufficient digital infrastructure and illiteracy are still hindering real progress.

So how do we move past these risks to build roads for creative ecosystems?

Countries and other International Parties slowly start mobilising towards the digital transformation of these industries.

Bringing culture in the forefront of the digital environment, requires actions such as:

• Bridging the digital divide: A key step is the contribution to digital creativity skills-building for strengthening digital literacy, through the following initiatives:

Source: Report

• Gradually adapting to regulatory frameworks: Further implementation of guidelines provided on the “Open Roadmap for the Implementation of the Convention in the Digital Environment". This road-map includes active steps towards the protection of fair remuneration, the discoverability of online content, as well as how countries can approach digital illiteracy.

Source: Report

• Data Transparency: Governments should take action towards platforms withholding data due to commercial value which hinders the creation of inclusive cultural ecosystems.

Does recognising the digital aspect of cultural industries indicate that we are moving towards creative digital ecosystems? Is this the answer to how can governments efficiently overcome barriers and “address culture as a public good” as the report suggests?