Digitizing
Creative industries

We enable innovators from the creative industries to have a positive political impact.

Projects

In a Europe-wide Call for Ideas, we were looking for innovations from the creative industries to network the creative industries as a whole and provide targeted support for selected innovations.

30+
experts connected
5
projects in acceleration
90+
community members

INTRODUCING DCI

The creative industries have enormous potential to help shape the digitization of our societies - at the same time digitization is fundamentally changing how and what values the creative industries create. The Digitizing Creative Industries (DCI) is an innovation accelerator funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany that supports creative ideas for a digitized and democratic Europe.
All of our five selected projects are under the aegis of an overall social goal such as diversity, safe spaces or empowerment. We aim to accelerate solutions which can serve as potential role models for the industry and its sub sectors. Besides, we help to develop ideas for foreign cultural policy on how our democratic goals can be promoted within the creative industries ecosystem.

Innovations

During the 4-month period of the accelerator, June - October 2022, the five innovation teams are being matched with experts from across Europe. Together, they accelerate their innovative ideas to a proof of concept.

About the project

THE NEWSROOM is on a mission to fight misinformation and promote plurality online by changing news reading through bite-sized news and context. There’s a trust crisis towards the media that has devastating consequences on our democracies, on polarization and our mental health. The team wants to offer younger, tech-savvy generations an innovative and trustworthy way to engage with the news and to act upon them, in a way that empowers them as active citizens. 

The start-up has built an AI-powered mobile application for news discovery that puts readers in the driver’s seat. It guides users through a step-by-step approach to news reading that provides them with full control on how deep they want to go for five key news events per day. Users also have the chance to discover the historical context behind the news and to understand the differentiating points of view and furthermore, what they agree and disagree on. 

Project by

The Newsroom is a media startup that is fighting misinformation to enable people to engage with the news and empower them to be more active as citizens.

Political vision

The solution of The Newsroom works towards increased confidence in reading the news and an improved public debate. This contributes to trust and confidence in reading the news which are directly related to inclusive civic engagement and democratic participation, public access to information and to the protection of fundamental rights within our societies. Furthermore, the team fosters global citizenship and appreciation of diversity and through tackling misinformation, boosts engagement as well as capacity to take action against climate change. 

Mentors

Friedrich Budde
Content Creation
Friedrich Budde is a Technology & Methodology Enthusiast and Corporate Innovator. He has a PhD in Mathematics and Computer Science and many years of experience in consulting.
Antonia Loncar
Content Creation
Antonia Loncar specializes in content creation, EU affairs and media.

About the project

IMAGINARYhas created the "open source exhibition", where they are collecting and distributing math exhibits related to democracy or a democratic Europe to museums, schools, and universities.

These freely distributed science exhibits can also be installed in public spaces and engage a very large audience (daily) in an interactive and attractive way.

To scale their model, imaginary is developing an open-source exchange platform where producers of digital exhibits and exhibition organisers can connect.

This platform will also host their Democracy exhibit, developed in collaboration with the French think tank Lumen and commissioned by Futurium, Berlin.

Project by

IMAGINARY is an NGO providing an open-source platform of digital science exhibits with a democratic core to it.

Political vision

The main idea behind this innovation is to establish a culture of openly sharing exhibits between museums. Freely distributed science exhibits can be installed in big cities and engage a very large public in an interactive and attractive form.

Mentors

David Schmidt
Expert in ...
innovation and business modeling and does consulting on customer centric innovation, product development and business models. Currently he is Chief Product Officer at Apothera, where he designs the future of healthcare.
Branislava Lovre
Expert in ...
digital identity, AI and freedom of expression, AI and human rights, Media literacy, Crowdfunding, Production of independent online journalism projects, Usage of deepfake. She is a producer, editor, and journalist with more than 18 years of experience connecting media, technology, and ethics.

About the project

HMAROCHOSHmarochos is a progressive local media outlet from Kyiv, Ukraine, bringing together team consists of experienced reporters, journalists, and digital specialists who have been promoting the sustainable development of cities for years and gained a reputation as a leading permanent platform for public discussion of relevant urban processes. 

 

Hmarochos focuses on sustainable, progressive practices and how urban communities are uniting to reach their goals. The team relies on local communities in cities and experts in the fields they write about.

Project by

Hmarochos is a progressive local media outlet that covers topics like urban development, housing, mobility, public spaces and human rights.

Political vision

The team aspires to create a local online media using their innovative approach including creating media as a social enterprise, a civic platform and a glocalised focus for a newsroom. Every citizen who wants to know what is happening in their city as well as representatives of local businesses and the municipality, urban communities, activists and social groups like neighborhood associations and environmental organizations benefit from Hmarochos and the enabled discussions about the future of cities and our coexistence in them.

Mentors

Robert Jacobi
Expert in...
digital strategy and digital transformation, digital marketing/advertising, content marketing and communication, especially in the following industries: media, financial services and automotive.
Maximilian Rau
Expert in...
grants & project management, conference & workshop management, human resources as well as community management. He is Vice President of the Austrian grassroots Think Tank Ponto.

About the project

EˉLEKTRONeˉlektron creates new opportunities for artists (visual artists, independent movie makers, digital performance artists) to monetise their work while increasing fan community engagement.

They do this through a web3 platform model in combination with their tech curation approach developed over the last few years:

eˉlektron has been creating and presenting transdisciplinary artworks for physical and virtual stages for some time. Some use several stages at once, others want to transport the audience into a virtual space or let them dance in the middle of a 360° performance.

eˉlektron wants to prove that "theatre magic" can happen even if your fellow performer or audience member is 4 time zones away.

Project by

eˉlektron presents transdisciplinary artworks for physical and virtual stages on a Web3 platform that offers performing artists worldwide new opportunities for financial value creation and interaction with their audiences.

Political vision

Through their web3 platform model, eˉlektron offers performing artists worldwide new opportunities for financial value creation and interaction with their audiences (inside and outside the performance). At the same time, they make the performing arts accessible to people everywhere, whether from a hospital bed or the other side of the world.

Mentors

Maximilian Gutsche
Expert in..
digital business modeling and works on web2 digital platforms & ecosystems as well as on Tokenomics in the Web3 space. He is a strong believer in a user owned economy and is conviced that creators should own their fair share.
Raphael Stanzani
Expert in..
industrial engineering and has worked at a multinational corporation, at an industrial plant, launched his own startup, managed a small family business, and started his own consulting service. He helps creators, makers, and researchers to cultivate a mindset of entrepreneurship and to organize their ideas into a process of business validation.

About the project

MYRACLE

combines state-of-the-art XR with sights, sounds, interactions, and physical movement in the world around you to build learning experiences that seamlessly blend stimulus, interaction, and creativity. 

Myracle’s learning experiences are created at the intersection of educators, technologists, and visual as well as performing artists, and a creator community across these disciplines is being built. 

They want to provide collaboration tools to enable community stakeholders to co-create active learning experiences to be distributed using Myracle’s technology. For the composability of their learning experiences, Myracle aims to use the transparency, auditability, and scalability that Web 3 technologies bring. The business model is a C2B2C and B2G2C model with the community as producers, educational organizations and governments as buyers and students and learners as users. 

Project by

Myracle is an EdTech-startup that is providing state-of-the-art XR learning experiences with Web 3 technologies.

Political vision

Myracle aims to attract curious learners from all over the world and create a decentralized open innovation community of educators, technologists, and artists around the globe.

Mentors

Alan Armstrong
Expert in..
early stage entrepreneurship. He focuses on equipping entrepreneurs with the essential startup skills necessary for validating their market and building a sustainable business.
Bahrullah Safi
Expert in..
higher education. Dr. Bahrullah Safi is an Educational Consultant, Author, Researcher,  and Vice President International at Acacia University USA.

supporters

facilitators and innovation experts

expert partners

Isabelle Schwenkert
Business Modelling
Isabelle is experienced in innovation management and consulting in technology-driven industries. She facilitates the workshops about business modeling and reflecting on customer needs.
Friedrich Budde
Prototyping & Testing
Friedrich Budde is a Technology & Methodology Enthusiast and Corporate Innovator. He facilitates the workshops about business modeling, prototype building and testing as well as measuring success.
Sophia Braun
Effectuation
Sophia Braun’s research focuses on entrepreneurial action under uncertainty in business and society, especially effectuation.
Eva-Maria Markutzik
Pitching
Eva-Maria Markutzik is an innovation expert in the fields of biotech, medtech and digital health.
Alan Armstrong
Customer Exploration
Alan Armstrong focuses on equipping entrepreneurs with skills necessary for market validation and building a sustainable business. He facilitates the workshop about getting to know customers.
Marion Quaas Reinhard
Team CoCreative
Senior Executive Coach. Team CoCreative - Facilitator und Ausbilderin für CoCreative Facilitation & Leadership mit TheoryU. Business Constellation. Mindset-based Transformations via InnerDevelopmentGoals
Maximilian Rau
Public funding
Expert in grants & project management, conference & workshop management, human resources as well as community management.
Robert Jacobi
Digital Media Strategy
Robert Jacobi is an expert in digital strategy and digital transformation, digital marketing/advertising, content marketing and communication.
Maximilian Gutsche
Tokenomics
Maximilian Gutsche is a digital business model expert that works on web2 digital platforms & ecosystems and my corner in Web3 is Tokenomics.

Other supporters

Milica Bozanic, Sophia Braun, Mario Chatzidamianos, Isabel De Peuter-Rutten, Delphine De Wulf, Tina Dreisicke, Elena Falomo, Pavel Firsau, Aurore Geraud, Balazs Horvath, Nina Kremser, Aurore Lejosne Bougaud, Patricia Leu, Branislava Lovre, André Nitzschmann, Matteo Pederzoli, Susanne Perner, Aija Sakova, Anne Segtnan, Paul Stefanut, Christy Tanner, Olivier Weber.
Brought to you by Polis180, a grassroots think tank for European and foreign policy, supported by Auswärtiges Amt (the German Federal Foreign Office)
Polis180, a grassroots think tank that contributes ideas, analyses and solutions of our generation to the political discourse through innovative, participatory and inclusive approaches.Our Digital European Futures Initiative is an EU-wide forum for exchange and the development of concrete solutions between science, art, politics and business on the societal potentials and challenges of digitization. In collaboration with partners such as the Goethe Institute, we have built a network of thought leaders in (digital) European and foreign policy (including from the Open Data Institute London, the University of Amsterdam, the Delft University of Technology, the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society).
The German Federal Foreign Office funds this project.
Its interest is rooted in the innovation potentials of the creative industries across all European countries. Thus the innovation teams will be accompanied by members of Polis180 to write policy briefings for the German Federal Foreign Office that eventually inform the future strategy of the Foreign Office's foreign cultural and educational policy.

Polis180

Polis180, a grassroots think tank that contributes ideas, analyses and solutions of our generation to the political discourse through innovative, participatory and inclusive approaches.

Our Digital European Futures Initiative is an EU-wide forum for exchange and the development of concrete solutions between science, art, politics and business on the societal potentials and challenges of digitization. In collaboration with partners such as the Goethe Institute, we have built a network of thought leaders in (digital) European and foreign policy (including from the Open Data Institute London, the University of Amsterdam, the Delft University of Technology, the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society).

polis180.org

Federal Foreign Office

The German Federal Foreign Office funds this project.

Its interest is rooted in the innovation potentials of the creative industries across all European countries. Thus the innovation teams will be accompanied by members of Polis180 to write policy briefings for the German Federal Foreign Office that eventually inform the future strategy of the Foreign Office's foreign cultural and educational policy.

auswaertiges-amt.de