Sunday, April 30, 2017

http://dailyasianage.com/news/58987/transformation-to-digital--culture-and-creativity

Transformation to digital culture and creativity

M S Siddiqui

Unlike other creatures of the planet, human have mental knowledge and capabilities, and physical
skills-that affects the very way the society and lives. Human has developed ideas such as beliefs,
values, and morals. They have believes and respect for laws, norms, customs, habits, religion, and
social institutions, Human have means of communication - the language and social infrastructure
developed through evolutions and a creative and meaningful lifestyle. Culture is not stagnant; rather
it is constantly changing and evolving through interactions among people within a culture and with
those of other cultures.

There are two definitions of culture offered by Webster's dictionary. a : the integrated pattern of
human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting
knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a
racial, religious, or social group; also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions
or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time. Various elements and dimensions of culture are
not independent, but rather are interrelated. People are learning and building the improved life and
the culture is defined as the sum total of a society's accumulated leanings. Culture is all
encompassing, and so pervasive that it affects the very way people think and act. Changes in culture
are intricately connected to changes in technology. Our lives are now dominated by technology.
Technology does not affect society in a linear way; rather, in combination with many other
elements.

The culture may be distinguishes with epochs and according to the communication technology used.
In oral culture, knowledge transfer could only occur in direct communication. In written culture
certain types of knowledge or the memory of a particular person could be preserved and written
messages could be sent through space and be recorded and preserved for the future.

Culture, communication and information are relatively related concepts. Culture is formed through
communications and interactions among people. Cultural knowledge has always been communicated
and therefore preserved by our cultural communication structures. The technologies available have
always been an important element in enabling and facilitating the processes of creating, sharing and
preserving our cultural memory. It is a accepted opinion that "Without recording technologies of
some kind (tablets, paper, wax, movable print, analogue and digital electronics and so forth), the
cultures we all inhabit would not exist".

This digital culture not only frames our experience of the world around us but also gives us a
complex set of tools with which to organize new ways for inter-relating information and local and
global culture. Researchers from different disciplines have examined the impact of these new media
on different social aspects of the virtual and real spheres. The words communication and
information always refer to the essence of community and human relationships. Information content
is a set of cultural products, with information forming part of the cultural fabric of a society. People
believe that information and communication in a technical and instrumental manner -as data and
data transmission. However, information and communication are also social phenomena. The real
and virtual spheres are interrelated, because both frame our experience, they tend to be clearly
define our life and culture of all the times.

Today's society, often referred to as the information age, is marked by the rapid development of
communication and information resources. In recent years, digital media have opened several new
avenues of information transfer, communication, and entertainment and changed the way we live in
a fundamental way. Technology has removed the physical boundaries between different media in the
digital environment, cultural and media industries have ensured a steady flow of content between
different platforms and in such a way that it has became single digital world ignoring the different
culture and national boundaries. Digital pedagogy is about developing global citizens.

Digital technologies enable global connections and connected knowledge creation. The concept of
communication in a sense broader than that of the mere transfer of messages and often emphasizing
that communication refers to "a process of sharing, making common, or creating a community. Thus,
when we refer to culture, we implicitly refer to communication. Digital culture is a new and complex
concept. The digital culture is a participatory culture in which users not only consume information
but also contribute information in different ways. Digital advances are increasingly interacting with
the world of culture and the arts, leading to a convergence of technologies, media and information
and shaping communication modes.

An important aspect of this dimension is that of sharing knowledge and protecting cultural identity.
These characteristics lead us to understand culture and information as goods that are inherently
general for all concerned. Like language, the expression of culture is a sign system for
communication, in which people, through common cultural codes, build their own understanding of
their environment and create shared meanings.

As one scholar says, "culture is a memory, collective memory, dependent on communication for its
creation, extension, evolution and preservation". The culture sector safeguards and transmits our
cultural memory recorded in different forms (as literature, art, music, etc). To keep this memory
alive and ensure that it is not forgotten, it must be communicated to the public and the public should
be able to take this content and use the associated references in communication and creation
processes. A fundamental aspect of our cultural memory is access to culture.

In Europe all growth from 2001 to 2011, in the creative sector was driven by digital media and study
shows 30 billion. In recorded music, Europe saw digital growth of 13.3%, and the overall recorded
market grew in France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and the UK in 2013. According to Price Water
House Coopers (PwC), global spending on digital music will surpass psychical distribution in 2015.
Similar growth also observed in UK, USA, Scandinavian and some countries in Asia. iTunes, iTunes
is a media player, media library of a mobile phone reached the milestone of 25 billion songs sold in
2012.

The technology enabled 3D films having special effects and new collaborative work streams reduces
production and distribution costs and allows greater reach in distribution and better discovery of
creative content. It can now transfer to any country and any region without any hassle.

All technologies in all ages intervene in the human environment and modify it to some extent,
thereby changing, more or less radically. The changes that have occurred in modern societies are
partly related to the introduction of Internet Communication Technologies ( ICTs) in our lives.

Culture and digital culture evolve and increasingly interact as they frame our experiences, which are
increasingly close to one other. The Digital culture, virtual culture, electronic culture, etc are
relatively new terms, yet they are now widely used in the scientific and popular literature. New
knowledge can influence traditional beliefs, and the extent of this influence depends on the
communication systems available and in use and on the content of these forms of communication.

In these new conditions imposed by convergence processes to make the 'knowledge society' although
there is a wrong perception that is it a commercialized 'information society' where information is a
commodity. The new possibilities offered by the digital technologies -namely, global connectivity and
the emergence of new networks- challenge our traditional understanding of culture and make it
necessary for us to take on the board the concept of a digital culture.

Digital networks are posing new challenges, by enabling easy information exchange and cooperation.
One of the most important implications for the networked information economy is the change
experienced in going from a public sphere with mass communication to a networked public sphere
where many more people can communicate their views and their comments with others. The internet
culture is a dominant culture and social mobilization is easily achieved using network tools.

Discovery on social networks like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc are the biggest drivers of traffic to
media sites. For example, The Independent (UK) saw referrals from Facebook grow 680% during the
course of 2010. French TV channel TF1. fr saw a 600% increase in traffic since introducing social
plugins or excess to TV Channels through social media. Likewise, the UK's Daily Mail is now the
second largest news site in the world, with 10% of its traffic from Facebook.

As a result, consumers are exposed to more diversity of information and news. Blogs, wikis, social
networking sites, photo- and video-sharing websites and peer-to-peer networking services are very
popular examples of this trend. These platforms offer powerful participatory networking spaces for
(re)constructing social life, with social, political and cultural motivations taking precedence over
others based on the market. The recent mobilition of public awearness and some movement in
Bangladesh has given an indication of use and impact of social media and wide use in a relatively low
ICT accessible country like Bangladesh.

eMarkets are fasting growing market place throughout the world and across the different regions.
The creative landscape is dynamic, culturally diverse, consumer driven, and growing with changed
test and culture. This is largely the result of creators and digital and the information and
communications technologies (ICTs) and the digital network infrastructure working hand in hand to
develop new opportunities. We should not miss the opportunity since others will take over the all
possible opportunities. The writer is a legal economist. He can be reached at
mssiddiqui2035@gmail.com