1. Name: Eleonora Maria Mazzoli 2. Organisation: European Broadcasting Union 3. E-mail Address: [email protected] With this contribution, the EBU is responding on behalf of the MediaRoad Consortium and its network. The EBU is the coordinator of the EU-funded project MediaRoad: European Media Ecosystem for Innovation which aims to support the transformation of the European media sector by building an ecosystem for innovation involving diverse media associations and key stakeholders. The MediaRoad Consortium is made of 9 members including public service media organisations (EBU, BBC, VRT, RAI), commercial radios and broadcasters (AER), academic research institutes (EPFL, IMEC-SMIT) and innovation centres (IRT), independent producers and SMEs (CEPI). In addition, the consortium members collaborate with a number of supporting organisations and a broader network including media workers’ organisations (Mediarte, Uni-Mei), journalists (EFJ), radio and television advertisers (EGTA) and other European broadcasters (DW, NPO). 4. In which area would you see the strongest necessity for support within the new Research Framework Programme? (Based on the challenges and priorities formulated in the predecessor Horizon 2020)? a. Information, Communication, Technologies b. Advanced Materials c. Health, demographic change and wellbeing; d. Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research, and the Bioeconomy e. Secure, clean and efficient energy f. Smart, green and integrated transport g. Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials h. Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective societies i. Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 761412 5. If you had the possibility to add a challenge/priority to the ones mentioned above, which one would you like to integrate into the Research Framework Program? Why? In the context of the next Research Framework Programme FP9, there is a number of challenges and priorities for media organisations which policy and programmes should take into account. In particular, we would like to highlight the importance of: • Supporting education, skills and training; • Supporting social investment and social innovation that in turn can foster social cohesion and inclusion; • Safeguarding and strengthening European and Democratic values; • Promoting cultural diversity and media freedom; • facilitating digital transformation of the economy and its key sectors, including the media and creative industries; • Support accessibility of services and products, • Facilitating access to finance for start-ups and SMEs, which are key actors in the creative and cultural sector and can foster bottom-up innovation projects; • Ensuring fair conditions of competition in the EU; • Fighting piracy. 6. Which means would you need in order to make the integration of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the new Research Framework Program and European cooperation a success? There is a lack of synergies between the relevant programmes that support media and the creative sector and this hinders the possibility of leveraging on their creative and innovative potential at EU level. MediaRoad highlights that stronger synergies between the Creative Europe Programme, and in particular its Media sub-programme and the dedicated funds for media R&I in the next FP9 are necessary. MediaRoad does not ask for merging of programmes but there is a clear need to make them more compatible so that, for relevant projects, they could be used in a complementary way. Whereas H2020 supports more technology-related innovation and does not sufficiently take innovation in content creation into account, Creative Europe targets small scale projects, offers This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 761412 low co-funding opportunities and supports more content creation rather than R&D or technological innovation. Thus, while we actively support the "#Double4Culture" and the "1% for Culture" campaigns launched by the Culture and Creative Sector to respectively increase the budget of Creative Europe and ensure that 1% of the budget of each EU policy field is allocated to culture, in parallel we strongly advocate for more dedicated funds for media and cultural industries in the next FP9 which should cater for the demand of this sector to develop research and innovation projects. 7. Where do you currently see obstacles and problems in the funding of CCIs in Europe in general and in Horizon 2020? MediaRoad and its network have identified a series of obstacles and problems in the programmes of the current H2020, which also hinders the possibility of the media and creative industries to access the funds and to best leverage on such programmes. In order to realise the enormous potential contribution of the European media and creative sector by building on the current advantages of EU funds, future programmes must address • Lack of flexibility to react to unforeseen circumstances and too complex procedures leading to high administrative burden and delays. Structures and procedures are complex and rigid, there is a lack of flexibility to react to unforeseen circumstances and adapt if adjustments in objectives and aims are needed. The possibility to more easily re-align aims and goals in light of the intermediary results is key for the success of R&D projects. An indicative plan based on key objectives would be much better than a detailed work plan as mending the Grant Agreement is demanding and it increases an already high administrative burden. • No alignments between the structures of EU and national programmes. This does not allow media to leverage on the potential of the different frameworks and hinders trans-projects collaboration. • Need to increase dedicated funds under the next FP9 for the media and cultural industries, as the high demand for H2020 ICT calls targeting the sector is not met. • Tendency for the calls to be under very broad themes. There needs to be more flexibility over the scope and options for other topics. • Fewer, shorter, clearer rules are needed to reduce the time from idea generation to project implementation to allow faster processes, support projects in a more efficient way, foster fast-pace innovation. An example of international funding programme that match these criteria is the Innovation Fund of the Google Digital News Initiative This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 761412 (DNI). The FP9 should be able to innovate its own structure to create similar funding programmes in Europe. MediaRoad Consortium and its network finally call for concrete actions as the highlighted obstacles have been discussed for a long time amongst policy makers, stakeholders and industry representatives and, while to some extent H2020 has partially addressed some of the issues compared to FP7, more can be done in terms of concrete and forward-looking solutions for the implementation of the next funding programmes. In other words: flexible solutions exist and can be implemented. 8. What would be your wishes for the integration of CCIs in the new Research Framework Program? In the context of research and innovation, the MediaRoad consortium emphasizes the pivotal role of the European media and creative sector and its vast creative potential for innovative services. This role, however, is not mirrored by an adequate support scheme that is able to fully capitalize on this strength. While separate programmes exist to support and strengthen technological innovation and creative content production, there is no programme combining these two dimensions in a way that enables real change and fast transition from project ideas to pilots and commercial implementation. The audiovisual and radio sector needs a dedicated scheme to bridge the gaps between technological innovation, creativity and R&D in the media field. This will ensure that in-depth broadcast media, IP networking, Cloud and new disciplines such as Analytics and Learning (AL) know-how and skills remain in Europe and continue to be nourished. It would also facilitate commercial and employment opportunities, attract young creatives, technology savvies and benefit the users. This will foster a pluralistic and diverse European audiovisual and radio landscape built on a common technical foundation which supports the European Digital Single Market. To ensure the competitiveness and development of the European audiovisual and radio sector, and in turn contribute to strengthen innovation and creativity in Europe, we propose the inclusion of a media innovation scheme in the European Research Agenda beyond 2020. New calls for proposals, including the Interactive Technologies (ICT-25-2018-2020) and the STARTS- The Arts stimulating innovation (ICT-32-2018) effectively address this priority and should be seen as a step towards further and more substantial investments that can better meet the R&D demands of the creative industries. On this line, the next Framework Programme 9 in This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 761412 combination with the work of the European Innovation Council should pave the way for