On 14 November 2024, Professor Pilar Orero (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) presented the MOSAIC project at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Intersector Rapporteur Group Audiovisual Media Accessibility.  

The IRA-AVA focuses on enhancing accessibility across the audiovisual sector. Founded in 2013, it aims to develop recommendation for access systems that support media accessibility across platforms like broadcasting, cable, and online services. The group collaborates with industry stakeholders, academic institutions, and standardisation organisations. 

Why MOSAIC?

Europe’s media landscape is rich, housing extensive archives of cultural, political and historical importance. However, European content often struggles to maintain global visibility due to language barriers and fragmented digital platforms. This gap has allowed major non-European digital platforms to dominate the media landscape, limiting access to European cultural resources. With MOSAIC; the goal is clear: to create a centralised AI-driven media portal where Europe’s diverse voices and content can reach a wider audience.

MOSAICs AI-powered Multilingual Capacities 

MOSAIC harnesses the power of AI to make media accessible across languages and barriers. Its features include: 

  • AI driven translation: By integrating AI technologies, MOSAIC can translate news content, subtitles, and even spoken dialogue across multiple languages. Importantly, the platform will offer translation support for less widely used European languages like Catalan and Slovenian, helping bridge language gaps within the EU. 
  • Multimodal Content Processing: Beyond text translation, MOSAIC’s AI technology is designed to handle audio, video, and even sign language content. This multimodel support ensures that people with different language and accessibility needs can engage with diverse European media. 
  • Ethical and Secure AI Implementation: Recognising the ethical and legal concerns around AI, MOSAIC will prioritise data privacy and intellectual property protection. As such, MOSAIC aims to become a model for responsible AI use in the media, combining innovation with transparency and accountability.  

Meeting Accessibility Goals

The MOSAIC project takes a holistic approach to accessibility, combining AI-enhanced language tools with features like automated audio descriptions, and customisable user interfaces. This effort goes beyond simply making content accessible; it also aligns with the EU’s broader goals for linguistic diversity and digital sovereignty.

Building a Centralised Hub for Broadcasters, News Agencies, and Content Creators

Designed as a central hub, MOSAIC will bring together media content from broadcasters, news agencies, and independent creators across EU member states. It will offer APIs that integrate with existing media platforms, making it easy for content creators to connect to a wider audience and for users to access a broad spectrum of news. This platform will also include personalised recommendation systems and a seamless search function for multilingual, multicultural content, reflecting the EU’s commitment to inclusivity and diversity.

The Path Forward

With an 18-month project timeline, MOSAIC will begin rolling out features that enable both public and private news providers to reach broader audiences. In the future, MOSAIC aims to expand into new media formats and emerging technologies, such as immersive extended reality content, further enhancing the European digital media landscape.

MOSAIC isn’t just a technological advancement; it’s a forward-thinking initiative aimed at fostering a more connected, informed, and inclusive EU. By blending multilingual accessibility with robust AI, MOSAIC is poised to set a new standard in the way media is created, shared, and consumed in Europe. Through MOSAIC, the EU is taking a bold step towards a future where every citizen can access information in their language, fostering a digital media ecosystem that values diversity, accessibility, and unity.

In a rapidly changing world, MOSAIC represents the EU’s vision for a media landscape that’s accessible, ethical, and driven by the needs of its people. It is for this reason that we are excited to share our work at the ITU.