A world in transition: convergence, interoperability, production processes and economic models in the media

During the past thirty years, the transition to digital has changed both the way the media and communication industry creates and provides content and the way end users access information and interact with it. The entire organization of content production, processing and distribution is undergoing major changes and workflow is being redesigned with the use of sophisticated database technologies, allowing for the development of a new multi-channel content delivery and multiple revenue streams paradigm. The spread of interactive functionalities, the widening variety of access devices, the emergence of social networks and the progressive approach to the semantic web are redefining the relationships between traditional content providers in the media and audiences, whereby a “reader” can become an “author”. Content can be accessed by means of many complementary devices, in a personalized time and space frame. Issues of convergence and interoperability, together with issues concerning intellectual property and copyright, are underlying the development of novel narrative structures and modes of content fruition.