CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research

Co-ordination and Lock-in: Competition with Switching Costs and Network Effects

Switching costs and network effects bind customers to vendors if products are incompatible, locking customers or even markets in to early choices. Lock-in hinders customers from changing suppliers in response to (predictable or unpredictable) changes in effciency, and gives vendors lucrative ex post market power-over the same buyer in the case of switching costs (or brand loyalty), or over others with network effects. Firms compete ex ante for this ex post power, using penetration pricing, introductory offers, and price wars. Such "competition for the market" or "life-cycle competition" can adequately replace ordinary compatible competition, and can even be fiercer than compatible competition by weakening differentiation. More often, however, incompatible competition not only involves direct effciency losses but also softens competition and magnifies incumbency advantages. With network effects, established firms have little incentive to offer better deals when buyers’ and complementors’ expectations hinge on non-effciency factors (especially history such as past market shares), and although competition between incompatible networks is initially unstable and sensitive to competitive offers and random events, it later "tips" to monopoly, after which entry is hard, often even too hard given incompatibility. And while switching costs can encourage small-scale entry, they discourage sellers from raiding one another’s existing customers, and s also discourage more aggressive entry. Because of these competitive effects, even ineffcient incompatible competition is often more profitable than compatible competition, especially for dominant rms with installed-base or expectational advantages. Thus firms probably seek incompatibility too often. We therefore favor thoughtfully pro-compatibility public policy.

EU competition law and sector-specific regulation in the converging communications industry

Part I traces the evolution of EU telecommunications policy (from 1987 to 1998) and presents an overview of and commentary on the main provisions of the current EU telecommunications regulatory framework. It discusses the principal policy documents which set the tone for the transition from a monopoly to a fully liberalised market and focuses on both liberalisation and harmonisation legislative measures in the EU.Part II concentrates on specific abusive behaviour of the incumbents aimed at preserving their key bottleneck positions against newcomers, and examines how competition law can deal with such cases. In particular, it discusses the jurisprudence of the ECJ involving cases of refusal to supply and the European Commission's essential facilities cases, and attempts to define to what extent Article 82 (ex 86) of the Treaty is applicable to the control of bottlenecks. Furthermore, it analyses EU competition policy on the strategic alliances and mergers arising from the accelerating convergence of the telecommunications, media and information technology sectorsPart III examines how the current EU telecommunications regulatory regime should be adapted to the emerging multimedia environment. It concludes that, at least during the transition phase towards the realisation of an effectively competitive market, specific regulation will play a fundamental role alongside competition law. It also assesses the scope and nature of the new regulatory regime in the converging environment and submits that a light-touch and predictable regulatory framework - based on the new commercial realities rather than on arbitrary and obsolete regulatory distinctions - is required. This means that a large majority of the prescriptive regulations currently in place will need to be replaced by a harmonised framework of general principles and overall targets which can identify and monitor barriers to competition within a converging market and can ensure equal and fair conditions for market players.Part IV comments on the proposed Framework, Access, and Licensing Directives. It attempts to assess whether the forthcoming regulation for electronic communications networks and associated services is in line with the main policy objectives and those regulatory principles that underpin the existing regulatory framework and whose significance has been affirmed in responses to consultation: legal certainty, flexibility, continuity, and transparency

A manifesto for the creative economy

The UK\u27s creative economy is one of its great national strengths, historically deeply rooted and accounting for around one-tenth of the whole economy. It provides jobs for 2.5 million people – more than in financial services, advanced manufacturing or construction – and in recent years, this creative workforce has grown four times faster than the workforce as a whole. But behind this success lies much disruption and business uncertainty, associated with digital technologies. Previously profitable business models have been swept away, young companies from outside the UK have dominated new internet markets, and some UK creative businesses have struggled to compete. UK policymakers too have failed to keep pace with developments in North America and parts of Asia. But it is not too late to refresh tired policies. This manifesto sets out our 10-point plan to bolster one of the UK\u27s fastest growing sectors

Why are some coalitions more successful than others in setting standards? Empirical evidence from the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD standard war

Standard-setting coalitions are increasingly composed of rival firms from different sectors and are characterized by simultaneous and/or sequential cooperation and competition among their members. This paper examines why firms choose to belong to two standard-setting coalitions instead of one and what determines the success of a standard coalition. We test empirically for network effect, experience effect, and coopetitive effect in the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD standard war. We find that the higher the similarity of the members in the coalition, the greater the probability of standard coalition success. Furthermore, relatedness leads to a greater probability of joining both competing coalitions, but at a given degree of knowledge difference, an opposite effect exists.Blu-ray; HD-DVD; coalition; coopetition; standard war

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience

Open educational resources for all? Comparing user motivations and characteristics across The Open University’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform.

With the rise in access to mobile multimedia devices, educational institutions have exploited the iTunes U platform as an additional channel to provide free educational resources with the aim of profile-raising and breaking down barriers to education. For those prepared to invest in content preparation, it is possible to produce interactive, portable material that can be made available globally. Commentators have questioned both the financial implications for platform-specific content production, and the availability of devices for learners to access it (Osborne, 2012). The Open University (OU) makes its free educational resources available on iTunes U and via its web-based open educational resources (OER) platform, OpenLearn. The OU’s OER on iTunes U reached the 60 million download mark in 2013; its OpenLearn platform boasts 27 million unique visitors since 2006. This paper reports the results of a large-scale study of users of the OU’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform. A survey of several thousand users revealed key differences in demographics between those accessing OER via the web and via iTunes U. In addition, the data allowed comparison between three groups: formal learners, informal learners and educators. The study raises questions about whether university-provided OER meet the needs of users and makes recommendations for how content can be modified to suit their needs. As the publishing of OER becomes core to business, we reflect on reasons why understanding users’ motivations and demographics is vital, allowing for needs-led resource provision and content that is adapted to best achieve learner satisfaction, and to deliver institutions’ social mission

Innovation-based competitive differentiation amongst South African fibre to the home (FTTH) operators

A research report submitted to the Wits Business School in the University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Innovation StudiesFibre-to-the-home (FTTH) as an access technology is viewed as vital for economic growth and competitiveness. The deployment of high speed networks and advanced access technologies is essential for continuous development of broadband in South Africa. FTTH is an access technology that has recently been deployed and adopted by different network providers in South Africa. South Africa is one of the developing countries attracting investments in the deployment of infrastructure where industry players are deploying fibre at a high rate with acquisition of smaller players. FTTH operators and service providers are challenged with competitive pressures within the market where competitiveness relies on the capacity to continually develop and implement unique innovative initiatives that will drive competitive advantage over its competitors. Competitive advantage is needed to achieve the organisation’s objectives. These innovative initiatives are required due to intense competition within the market which results in reduction of prices and margins. The purpose of this study is the exploration of innovation-based competitive differentiation from a South African FTTH provider perspective. The study aims to look at potential innovation differentiation amongst South African FTTH providers and how it can be applied in order to obtain a competitive advantage by looking at the factors that influence competitive advantage and barriers for innovation within the market. The study will provide knowledge and insights to develop an understanding of innovation for FTTH providers in a developing country such as South Africa. In this study, realistic data from the different network providers and service providers has been collected utilising a qualitative research method to investigate and conduct an in-depth analysis based on interviews with subject matter experts and managers from FTTH operators and service providers. Some propositions have been suggested as a validation for the proposed framework. The sample for the study has been drawn from the active FTTH network infrastructure operators and service providers based in Gauteng. The research findings indicate that the fibre-to-the-home market is a highly competitive environment with network providers and service providers offering various products and services to customers in order to meet customer needs. However, there are challenges with innovation based competitive differentiation since, currently, 3 competition is primarily based on the price of the broadband product. As a result, prices have been plummeting, leading to some service providers operating and selling their FTTH products with no margins or negative margins. KEYWORDS: Fibre-to-the-Home, FTTH, Innovation, Differentiation, Competition, Network Operators, Competitive Advantage.GR201