'While the United States may be at the centre of the technological, media and entertainment explosion, each global region from Europe to Asia is developing its own distinct approach to media and technological innovation', noted Frank-Jürgen Richter , President of Horasis, at the Media Summit in New York City on February 9-10. Co-panellists Laura D. Corb , Global Media and Entertainment Practice, McKinsey and Company, Scott Marden , President, Information & Media Services, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Roy A. Salter , founder and Managing Member, The Salter Group, Saul Berman , Partner, Media and Entertainment group, IBM Business Consulting Services (BCS) and Martin N. Kon , Director, Communications, Information and Entertainment Group, Mercer Management Consulting agreed that the world has become a smaller place for executives on all sides of the entertainment and marketing equation. Recognizing that the entertainment, media and technology industries are increasingly global, the panellists discussed the current state of that equation, the nature of global expansion or dislocation, the advantages of global synergies, the trends in international versus national branding, and the effects of digital technologies in a global context.

They held that it may be best to approach these issues from the inside out, by first trying to define the basic economic and social impact of these converging industries on the economy and general lifestyle and then work our way out. Since the bursting of the economic bubble in the late 1990s into the 2000s, it has taken world economies almost three years to find their footing, arguably as a result of the downsizing, stabilization and now steady growth and innovation in broadband, wireless, DTV, DVD, Consumer Electronics, HDTV, computing, communications along with the ever evolving sophistication of the content industries. Against this new economic baseline, the panellist explored if we are primed and ready for an entertainment, media and technological boom. A global boom perhaps? Will all the good news be undermined by digital piracy and intellectual rights controversies? Are ever larger conglomerates doomed to fail or is massive technological innovation needed to approach the "global technological and media revolution" but only to be afforded by a handful of dominant companies?

‘Radical changes in the media and entertainment sector over the next ten years will lead to dramatic shifts in the business models of globally operating media companies, predicted Frank-Jürgen Richter. Media companies will have to adapt to the competitive pressure caused by digital technologies, forces of globalization and ever changing consumer attitudes. He summarized the session as ‘Forget the past – re-create the future'.

Horasis is a global visions community committed to enact visions for a sustainable future. (http://www.horasis.org)