EITB headquarters in Bilbao host the official presentation of the TEMS project

The ceremony brought together more than 100 members and stakeholders from different European countries, as well as representatives of Basque institutions who showed their support for the project.

The kick-off of TEMS, the flagship European initiative for the deployment of a common data space on the media industry, took place on October 24th. The event took place in the Multibox room at EITB headquarters in Bilbao, the only TV station in the country that has joined this European project. Among the attendees there were representatives of the 43 organisations composing the TEMS consortium, as well as stakeholders willing to learn about the evolution of the project and its mission.

The session began with the intervention of Andoni Aldekoa, EITB’s General Director, who reaffirmed the organisation’s support for the project and the need for public institutions to support data spaces as a key asset for a competitive and sustainable audiovisual sector. Another speaker was Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak, head of the Data Applications and Creativity Unit at the European Commission. The Commission has a key role in TEMS, as the creation and implementation of common data spaces in key industries is one of the most important items on the European Strategy for Data, in effect since 2020.

Furthernore, the TEMS kick-off featured a panel of international experts, who provided the main arguments to cope with the current challenges and trends in the media industry and explained how data spaces can offer the ideal environment for media development in a world scenario conditioned by fake news, cybersecurity, copyright, and the need to customize digital content.

Skilled professionals such as Lucille Verbaere, Data Space Project Manager at the European Broadcasting Union; Delphine Ramond, Manager of European Media Projects at AFP or Véronique Demilly, project manager at France Télévisions, shared their views on the role of data spaces in an everchanging media industry, as a way of overcoming challenges and enhancing the quality of audiovisual works. In addition, Ole Fehling, Data Science Manager at Schickler, presented the DRIVE initiative, a Shared Media Data Space for the German speaking countries that will serve as a reference for the future implementation of TEMS.

After providing the necessary context to understand why common data spaces are both necessary and revolutionary, the introduction to the TEMS project was done by Óscar Lázaro, CEO of Innovalia Association, which is the company coordinating the project. Lázaro explained that the implementation of TEMS will not be the end of the journey, but only a mean to reach the eventual goal: the effective development of all the visions and media experiences the CCI professionals and members of TEMS theorize about.

At the final part of the event, we did enjoy a round table formed by Jon Telletxea (EITB), Jokin Garatea (GaiaX), Aletxu Echevarría (Eiken Cluster) and Jesús Alonso (BAIDATA) and hosted by Francisco Buján (CARSA), which served as a final debate forum after a day of lectures and expositions. The closing speech was delivered by Aitziber Atorrasagasti, Cultural Promotion Director of the Basque Government, who reassured the institutional support to the project and recognised the relevance of data spaces and projects such as TEMS in the economic future of the Basque Country.