Cultural exception facing the challenges of the digital world
With the self-chosen theme of «Where technology meets culture» is the ideal setting to commemorate this event and rekindle «the Spirit of Mons» in the digital age. The Government of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels and the Mons 2015 Foundation intend to propose an International Forum to support the efforts initiated by France and Canada to reinforce the comments made by the Director General of UNESCO, Ms Irina Bokova, on 4 April 2014. On the occasion of the Chaillot Forum, she indeed said that the Convention certainly applies to the digital world and is based on technological neutrality, the base of cultural exception. Cultural exception facing the challenges of the digital world : How to put new technologies at the service of the diversity of cultural expressions ? The International Forum in Mons has the ambition to confirm these principles, and to explore the available tools to implement them. To achieve this, several questions posed by the relationship between culture, trade and the digital world in a society in full metamorphosis will be addressed. These issues are complex and multifaceted, linked to issues such as knowledge management, providing support to the creation and distribution of cultural content, taking into account their evolution (deterritorialisation and dematerialisation, media convergence, strengthening of participation processes...), intellectual property, or the protection of personal data. After a series of institutional and academic speeches on these themes, three debates between experts and representatives of the civil society will be presented: 1st debate : “Strengthen creators and access to culture : the digital challenges of the cultural exception” 2nd debate : “Creators and audiences in Southern countries: the contributions of the Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions in the digital age.” 3rd debate : “The digital world as a tool for the protection and promotion of cultural diversity in small or medium-sized cities.”
