Innovation and storytelling

— Published March 7th, 2003  |  by David Moore

How would you define "digital content"?

Digital content has two primary characteristics: malleability and interactivity. Malleability means that digital content can be easily transformed, combined, reproduced, and transmitted. Interactivity means that media experiences become more like face-to-face storytelling.

How well do you think public sector and commercial organisations currently use digital content?

Both public and commercial organisations have put a lot of energy into harnessing the malleability of digital content. However, few if any places have really done a good job of leveraging interactivity beyond playout control and hyper-linking. Part of the problem is that the interactive story, as an art form, is in its infancy. There has been no Homer or a Shakespeare or a Dickens for this new medium. However, this is where the artistic, technological, and philosophical opportunities lie.

Do you see any significant innovations on the horizon to improve the content creation process?

I think the two biggest impacts coming down the pipeline are tools for collaboration on content creation and tools for non-frame based stream manipulation. The first means that a creative team can hook up more easily. The second means that the malleability of digital media will be increased, allowing new kinds of manipulation and reuse.

A recent Irish government report argued that Ireland could become a leading global player in the digital content industry. What's your view of the current state of the industry in Ireland?

Strong but not yet the hub it could be. Digital technology has the potential to level the content creation playing field in a way that could make Ireland much more significant. Though the worldwide digital boom is over, its effects endure and those effects (ubiquitous computation and spreading broadband) will redefine the market for the next two decades. That redefinition will be a tremendous opportunity for Ireland to leverage its cultural and storytelling genius.

What do you think Media Lab Europe has contributed to the Irish economy so far?

To date, Media Lab Europe has certainly raised the innovative profile of Ireland. Though I can't say for certain, I think we have been (and will remain) a draw from bringing higher-value R&D activity into Ireland and encouraging native activity in research and development.

This summer, MLE produces its first crop of "graduates" who have spent two years immersed in the lab's creative cauldron and I think this will continue to be one of our most enduring contributions. These graduates, in years to come, will start new companies and transform existing ones.

You have said that 'research management is inherently more like gambling than most researchers would like to admit or than most individual sponsors are willing to contemplate.' How do you choose which projects to pursue?

First, you choose multiple projects and hire people who are able to explore many directions at once. Second, you pick risks you can learn from and (crucially) can learn from relatively quickly. Third, you keep a portfolio of research activities which balance risk and yield.

What are the main obstacles to innovation in the current corporate environment?

Risk aversion and resistance to learning. During the boom, companies forgot that they were taking risks and now they have compensated by forgetting how to take risks. Resistance to learning comes from the same roots, because learning always looks like a risk: but it's the risk that will eventually kill you if you don't take it.

Does the work done in the Media Lab have any relevance to people working in the internet arena today?

Making today's' work easier isn't our job. Inventing tomorrow's work is what we do. 25 years ago, inventing the intersection of the TV and computer (at the MIT Media Lab's precursor) had little relevance to most of the day-to-day work of computer companies or broadcasters. Today, that intersection defines much of the work that people on the Internet are doing today.

Related Links:

• Media Lab Europe - http://www.medialabeurope.org