Augusto Preta’s scientific contributions

The relationship of European civilisation to democracy and culture is deeply complex and intellectually challenging. Cultural creation and production only mix with politics in a lopsided manner. The cultural dimension, however, is a fundamental tenet of the European Union (EU) and an indispensable foundation for strengthening its institutions and the performance and achievement of all European realities. A number of initiatives have been taken to allow the cultural dimension to support the European project. We examine here the status of one important part of European contemporary culture: the creation of audio-visual content, specifically how it is shaped by European civilisation and reciprocally shapes it. While total investments in original European content sharply increased with the entry of global streamers on the European market, these investments came as a net addition. The EU is succeeding in having ‘internationals’ play by the rules in European creation. While they bring productions from around the world to European viewers, they also expand the viewership for European productions far beyond Europe itself. This has generated welcome opportunities for local job creation and audio-visual development.

The COVID-19 pandemic is tragically affecting our societies worldwide. As we are forced under these extraordinary circumstances to spend more time indoors, severely limiting our movements and journeys, telecommunications networks, communications services and the media are standing in to play a major role in economic and social resilience. They are providing the required tools for a transformed virtual workplace; making entertainment at home possible, at a time when theatres, and sports venues are at a standstill. More than ever before, the transformative nature of digital innovation in the media and telecommunications industries is moving along with the way we are living and working today.

The COVID-19 pandemic is tragically affecting our societies worldwide. As we are forced under these extraordinary circumstances to spend more time indoors, severely limiting our movements and journeys, telecommunications networks, communications services and the media are standing in to play a major role in economic and social resilience. They are providing the required tools for a transformed virtual workplace; making entertainment at home possible, at a time when theatres, and sports venues are at a standstill. More than ever before, the transformative nature of digital innovation in the media and telecommunications industries is moving along with the way we are living and working today.