UNESCO is commissioning a study analyzing how the current policies, measures and practices in Asian countries support cultural and creative industries in the digital era, and to which extent they are aligned with the core principles of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
The 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions aims to ensure that artists, cultural professionals and practitioners, as well as citizens can create, produce, disseminate, and enjoy a broad range of cultural goods, services, and activities, including their own. It supports mechanisms that foster creativity and the emergence of dynamic cultural and creative industries as a tool for inclusive economic and social development, including those that foster local production, the development of local markets and access to platforms for their distribution and exchange worldwide.
With the fast development of digital technologies, cultural expressions and cultural industries are going through a significant revolution. Culture, trade and technology environments are increasingly interconnected. This brings new opportunities for cultural actors, but also a new set of economic, social, political and transnational challenges.
Some Asian countries are embracing this revolution and some of their cultural industries are strongly benefitting from the technological leap. This study will analyze the situation of digital technologies in selected Asian countries in relation to the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
An information document entitled Analysis of Parties, periodic reports and contemporary digital trends was presented during the Eighth session of the inter-governmental committee for the 2005 Convention in December 2014. This information document was based on global data. The proposed study aims to focus on Asia to inform future regional actions on digital technologies.