(Toronto-February 16, 2010) The Ontario College of Art & Design's Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) today announced it will lead a multidisciplinary strategic foresight project called 2020 Media Futures: Strategic Foresight for Ontario's Cultural Media Industries, designed to understand and envision what media may look like by the year 2020 - what kind of cross-platform internet environment may shape media and entertainment in the coming decade and how Ontario firms can take action today toward capturing and maintaining positions of national and international leadership.

2020 Media Futures is an ambitious, 14-month long foresight project bringing together researchers, creators, policymakers and other professionals representing the cultural and digital media industries. A significant grant of $132,500 has been provided by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) through the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund. Additional support will be provided by key industry partners and OCAD, bringing the total value of the project to $226,500.

"2020 Media Futures builds on OCAD's demonstrated capacity undertaking industry-driven research through consortia such as CONCERT and the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre (MEIC)," explained OCAD President Sara Diamond. "OCAD's sLab is uniquely positioned to lever our community's strengths to support research, commercialization and economic development within the entertainment, screen-based and creative industries, including design, services, technology, infrastructure and policy."

"sLab is delighted to have this opportunity to lead the development of a shared future vision for the media and entertainment industries in Ontario," said Lenore Richards, Director of sLab. "In this unprecedented project, initiated and shaped through a close collaboration among Communitech, Nordicity and sLab, we will draw on distinct and diverse capabilities within our own communities and from across the Creative Cluster throughout the foresight scenario process. Unique to this project will be the active participation of graduate students in OCAD's Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation, a groundbreaking new program and the first of its kind in Canada."

Strategic foresight is a systematic approach to gathering intelligence about possible futures, and building a high quality forward view aimed at guiding and enabling present-day decisions. 2020 Media Futures will investigate several key areas of inquiry, including media convergence, consumer choice, distribution channels, distinctions between producers and consumers, interactivity, and the integration of technologies.

"sLab develops design thinking, business insight, and strategic foresight through an open, informed, imaginative and disciplined process," said Greg Van Alstyne, Director of Research at sLab, and project leader for 2020 Media Futures. "Our aim is to help Ontario's creative companies and industries 'future-proof' themselves, preparing for rich opportunities and unexpected threats brought on by the rapid evolution of media." 

The project aims to build upon previous foresight programs undertaken around the world, but within an Ontario-specific context. The resulting research from 2020 Media Futures will be made available in an open, publicly accessible forum with the goal that the project's findings will help significantly build capacity and provide early-stage recognition and support for innovative products, services, platforms, and business models.