Broadband for culture, culture for broadband

The amelioration and augmentation of cultural participation is one of the major cornerstones of the current cultural policy in Flanders . Research has shown that the public participation level in Flanders is slightly higher than the European level. It is situated between countries with a lower participation level such as France, Portugal and Greece and countries with high participation level like the Scandinavian Countries and especially our neighbouring countries The Netherlands and Luxemburg. In order to achieve this goal, the Flemish government has set three objectives for its new cultural policy in 2008. The first objective is ‘the enlargement of the audience’. By offering targeted information to cultural participants the government wishes to stimulate participation and discover new forms of culture related to their personal interests. Secondly, the government wishes to attract new audiences for cultural events. This objective is referred to as the ‘renewal of the audience’ and is focused on drawing in minority groups like migrants, the disabled etc. who are often excluded from the cultural landscape. The third objective is ‘the deepening of the audience’, which represents the promotion of the cultural competence of visitors through education and the availability of information. Ultimately, this should enhance the quality of the cultural experience and hopefully, lead to a higher frequency of visits. New technologies and broadband internet in particular, can stimulate cultural participation and help the Flemish government to achieve its goals. Research confirms that the internet reinforces existing behaviour patterns and is often used as a tool to augment the number of visitors for art centres. Participation in arts and culture through a virtual space accessed by a computer is often referred to as virtual participation, while in general the use of digital technologies in culture can be summarised as e-culture. Virtual participation is described as three different activities: looking for information online, purchasing cultural products e.g. a CD, a book, a photograph etc; and online and cultural participation e.g. watching a concert by a live stream or visiting the 3D representation of an art gallery. The introduction of digital technologies and broadband internet in arts and culture has significant consequences for all contributors in the field. The aim of this paper therefore is to identify the challenges and opportunities of digital technologies for cultural institutions, artists and the audience. It is clear that these contributors nowadays are confronted with many new possibilities which can create an added value to their working processes. In addition, we shall explore these issues on a deeper level using empirical data based on large surveys on the needs, attitudes and desires of these three types of participants with regard to e-culture and broadband internet services and applications