The OIC works in four research areas:
- Creative Industries, Content and New Social Dynamics
- Information Society, Technology and Globalization
- Media Policies, Regulation and Media systems
- Audiovisual sector, Regional Integration and Cultural Diversity
Creative Industries, Content and New Social Dynamics
The main area of expertise is in using empirical and qualitative tools to study the performance of communication, creative and cultural industries. It is a plural research area and it aims to provide media professionals, public administrators, operators and users with sectoral communication strategic tools for decision-making. This line of research lies on the same approach as the EU program Horizon 2020, which promotes the role of technology and information management, including ICT, digital content and creativity, as the main instruments to address major societal challenges and strengthen a new industrial leadership.
Information Society, Technology and Globalization
This area of research comes from analyzing the level of development of different local and regional communication systems and the effects of ICTs on the traditional forms of organization, production and operations of the media. The interest lies on studying the level of change that occurs in the workplace and in the media content as a result of digital convergence and the increasing role of users in interactive technological environments. As local institutions and political actors play a significant and active role in this current technological scenario, our approach propose to study ICTs from the local perspective. It takes into consideration both the operators of media systems offering new services and the strategies of territorial cohesion that promote emerging networks. In this sense, it is necessary to study the strategic priorities of local institutions and make decision in favor of local information, decentralization and territorial rebalancing at the communication level, as well as decentralization of services such as distance learning and online administration.
Media Policies, Regulation and Media systems
The development of ICTS has raised the public debate on the common interest and media policy that have been absent and only limited to the industry or trade issues. For this reason, the study of media policies should be related to social welfare, deepening of democracy, economic and social development and cooperation for the development. Values such as innovation, competition (regulation), employment and economic development, acquire today a strong presence and visibility, as a result of convergence and the increasing role that cultural industry and new technologies play in the transition to Information Society.
Audiovisual sector, Regional Integration and Cultural Diversity
The objective of this approach is to analyze the national and international audiovisual sector from the different social, economic and technological perspectives. It aims to analyze the evolution of the audiovisual as a central activity of the cultural industry. The full functioning of a single digital market conditions the development of the sector and forces new approaches to public policies and business models. The deployment of digital technology in the audiovisual sector has singularities that require detailed studies with an emphasis on their national, regional and global consequences.