Emmanuel Hoog, Presidential Candidate

Emmanuel Hoog

Dear colleagues,

The Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA), is one of the four founding members of FIAT/IFTA, together with BBC, RAI and ARD. It has always taken part actively in the works of the federation, supported its development and thus contributed to its recognition at international level.
Thanks to my journey in Tunis, last April, and through the contacts we had since my staff and myself with some of you, I have been convinced that there is a great wish to give a new impulse to the FIAT/IFTA.

I share this ambition and I am willing to involve INA in this dynamics, then I decided to stand for FIAT/IFTA Presidency.

In this view, I would like to let you know the reasons of my personal committment , beyond the interest I have always taken in the preservation and promotion of our heritage.

The first one is my conviction that the archives should be preserved in order to be transmitted to future generations and accessible to the largest audience. Archives should not be limited to a ressource center for broascasters and producers or to a profitable capital for commercial use. They should be considered at first as a collective memory repository and even more as a cultural and historical heritage.

The second one is the fact that only few countries can benefit from the new technological facilities. Then it is our duty to position the archives at the heart of the "information society" through a supportive approach. This is why INA is involved in development and cooperative projects - such as Presto, Brava, Capmed, Echo. That is why we take an active part in the restoration and reconstruction of the Afghan audiovisual heritage and in the revival of the television there.

FIAT/IFTA remains an essential body for archive international cooperation but it should strenghten its contacts and support towards those countries which do not benefit from sufficient resources nor sufficient know-how. This ambition has to turn more effective and concrete. The network that we shall go on building and the technical support that we can call up are as many trumps for achieving a voluntary and efficient policy for the benefit of FIAT/IFTA and its members.

All of us, we know that Archives are at a turning point : faced to the so called "digital revolution", they are compelled to move forwards or to resign themselves to become the museums of audiovisual bygone days. If the most advanced Archives need mutual support to face the technological and economical incured risks, the less advanced ones need assistance and guidance to achieve their projects.

In this context, FIAT/IFTA has to promote and carry out some very concrete actions in the frame of a clearly defined strategy and to find the relevant means to achieve them.

In this view, I invite you to read a first working document which presents strategical lines to be discussed in Antalya.

Yours faithfully,

Emmanuel HOOG
Institut National de l'Audiovisuel
4, avenue de l'Europe
94366 Bry-sur-Marne Cedex
France

T : + 33 1 49 83 26 88

F : + 33 1 49 83 31 83
E-mail: ehoog@ina.fr

Emmanuel HOOG

After accessing the "Ecole Nationale d'Administration", Emmanuel Hoog, 40 years old, begins his carreer in 1988 at the Bureau of the budget and financial affairs of the ministry of Culture and Communication.

In 1992, he is appointed deputy adviser of the mission for the creation of the "Institut international d'histoire des arts de Paris" and managing director of the "Théâtre national de l'Odéon" in Paris, duty he has been holding for five years. Later, he becomes managing director of "the Piccolo Teatro" in Milano (1997-1998).

From July 1997 to February 2001, he is the adviser in charge of cultural and audiovisual affairs at the cabinet of Mister Laurent Fabius, President of the Assemblée Nationale, and later kept the same duty at the ministry of Finances.

In october 1998, he becomes also the director of the "Printemps des poètes".

On february 14th 2001, he is appointed by the Council of ministers as president of INA. His mandate was renewed for five years on December 21st 2001.

He has published many papers, he is associate professor in different universities and the author of a book about the "Marché de l'Art".

Action Plan Proposal for FIAT/IFTA

FIAT/IFTA nowadays

For 25 years FIAT/IFTA has played a good part in information, professional contacts, exchange of knowledge and know-how for archiving the audiovisual contents of television programmes.

FIAT/IFTA has gathered together different organisations  broadcast and national archives and other interested parties  with mostly common objectives and quite different scales and histories. The diversity of their needs and experiences which stem from their duties, the specificity of their users and their national context should be considered as a professional wealth to be shared by the community of archivists.

FIAT/IFTA world conference topics show the interest in permanent questions which members have to solve, but also reflect the fast and deep changes which occur in audiovisual and archival fields.

Archives have some strong commitments to face :

• Ensure the preservation of old materials and endangered contents through adapted migration plans and the improvement of preservation conditions.
• Anticipate the challenge of recent production archiving considering their increasing volume and the complexity and volatility of «born digital¡ materials.
• Control through continuous evolution the changes towards digital archives management.

Challenging continuity and evolution, archive management implies a permanent ability to adjust.

Action plan for FIAT/IFTA

This paper is aimed at launching and facilitating the expression of interests and needs by all members. It has been prepared and agreed upon by some members of BBC, BFI, INA, RAI, RTBF and SWR. Priority actions will have to be decided and then set up and organised by the Executive Council.

FIAT/IFTA, as a professional organisation, has to be both a representative body able to present and defend the needs and objectives of archive organisations, and a cooperative body for its members aiming at stimulating and coordinating joint actions based on international solidarity principles.

The work plan for FIAT may be described through four key actions :

1. Lobbying actions
   • Towards National Authorities to alert them to the current worrying conditions of preservation of the audiovisual archives in each country, but also to acknowledge the cultural, economical and usage values of this heritage, so that adapted resources and funding might be allocated to allow the durable preservation and wider exploitation of the contents.
   • Towards International Authorities involved in preservation and access of the audiovisual heritage (EBU, UNESCO, EC) and capable of supporting strong projects. This activity will be linked to current actions like those led by the IAG group (Interdisciplinary Archive Group) within the EBU. This lobbying can be co-ordinated with other international organisations playing a role for the cultural heritage, such as FIAF, AMIA, IASA, IFLA and CIA.
   • Towards Companies to draw their attention to problems and issues stemming from the rapid obsolescence of technical formats and dealing with long term preservation needs relating to old recording equipment. Continuous exchange about new technological trends has to be organised for strategic purposes.
   • Towards Standardisation groups in charge of digital systems for storage and exploitation of audiovisual archives through expanding digital networks. This activity will be led in strong collaboration with National, European and International research consortia and task forces.
   
   These lobbying actions imply that FIAT/IFTA should have adapted communication aids, like informative booklets, web site, charters or position papers about key challenges and actions to be achieved. Lobbying should reflect all the views of members reflecting complementary approaches.
    
2. Involvement in R&D and collaborative programs

   FIAT/IFTA should be able to disseminate information on priority projects and to encourage its members' involvement, and more specifically :

   • To disseminate usable results of projects, like PRESTO where tools have been developed to achieve preservation of archives at lower costs, allowing members to benefit from current projects results.
   • To give anticipated information on projects in the process of being set up so that more members may participate in the consortium, as well as on current or new European and international programmes.
   • To advise on setting up of projects, regarding administrative procedures and the nature of archival contributions.
   • To facilitate contacts and expertise for collaborative projects like CAPMED either through regional consortia or one to one agreement.
3. Practical co-operative actions

   Several concrete actions in the field of preservation, selection, cataloguing, indexing, exploitation of archives are proposed. Most of them are directed towards specific needs of "developing" archives and for example :

   1. Offer to all members a set of Practical guidelines and recommendations. Some already exist but need to be translated and widely transmitted.
   2. Organise task forces on specific topics having worldwide impact, such as :
      • Standards and guidelines for selection of contents and materials to be included in digitalisation processes.
      • Rights management and the cost of royalties. European and international campaigns are needed to sustain a proposal for safeguarding the rights of authors and meeting the demands of the marketplace.
   3. Organise training sessions on specific topics, adapted to the needs of particular audiences. Organise welcome of skilled personnel inside archive departments allowing the exchange of professional practices, and reviving the "fellowship "training for archive crafts (as it happened in the medieval age).
   4. Set-up an on line resources website giving access to current solutions, off the shelf products and software, giving names and contacts of potential partners or subcontractors, names and skills of experts in different domains. This could be a source of income, as FIAT/IFTA should not recommend specific manufacturers. Install an international "hotline" service to answer urgent questions.

   Collaborative models will be needed that both strengthen existing links between archives and bring together partners at different levels ; the objectives are to provide technological help and to improve current work through previous experiences.
    

4. FIAT/IFTA Strengthening and Broadening

   Strengthening FIAT/IFTA implies :

   • Network consolidation by broadening the representation of African, Asian and South American archives ; by stimulating the participation of professionals representing different archival skills (librarians, technicians, lawyers, archive sales personnel) ; by taking into account the linguistic diversity of our members.
   • Setting up a more efficient internal stucture by establishing task forces, based on existing commissions, involved on separate projects with a mandate including objectives, budget, precise duration, and an expert group dedicated to the project ambition. These task forces would be decided by the Executive Council and should report to the General Assembly.

   Broadening FIAT/IFTA implies :

   • Increasing collaboration with other bodies with objectives close to our own, so that we may share experiences of common interest with organisations such as : IASA, FIAF, CIA, FOCAL, CIRTEF, COPEAM, AMIA, SEPAAV, but also with professional organisations like AES and SMPTE. Joint symposiums will be revived.
   • More members of FIAT/IFTA should be involved in the IAG group (Interdisciplinary Archive Group) within the EBU to develop technical facilities and services for broadcasting of archives.
   • Agreements should be established with UNESCO to set up funded programs for supporting collaboration of television archives in large regions where is a great need of developing them.

   INA, September 20th 2002