CHIC comprises 24 institutions and has €9.5M until 2020 to work in this area. The ultimate goal is to develop a series of digital platforms based on interoperable technologies, aiming to boost the creation of content and its exchange among different players in the value chain. This way, the project will enable the development of national businesses in the sector of digital content, reinforcing the presence of national entities in international markets by providing new products and systems aimed at the digital content sector.

The project was formally launched in October and the first general meeting with representatives from all partners took place on 14 November at INESC TEC.

“We have been working to build this consortium in Portugal for some time now. Until 2020, we want to develop an ecosystem based on open formats and interoperable technologies that stimulate the creation of national content and its exchange between the different players of the value chain”, explains Alexandre Ulisses, coordinator of CHIC and innovation manager at MOG.

CHIC expects to export until 2020 the new products that it will develop, such as systems for real-time broadcasting of 4K video using IP on the cloud, a system for TV directing on the cloud, and a platform for digitally providing the National Cinema Plan to schools. The products will be marketed in 77 international markets, including Brazil, Germany, Spain, North America, Russia and Asia.

“We also expect a 15% increase in the current partner network of the companies of the consortium. The project also intends to increase the export capacity of national companies, aiming at achieving a percentage of overseas sales of 69% for sales of the project and at increasing the investment in R&D from companies participating in the project by 20%, thus reaching 22 million euros”, states Artur Pimenta Alves, scientific coordinator of the project, consultant to the Board of INESC TEC and Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP).

Coordinated by MOG, the project has several types of partners: technology-taking companies – MOG, Cluster Media.labs, GEMA, vMuse, SisTrade and Youon –, entities from the Portuguese science and technology system – INESC TEC, University of Aveiro, Catholic University of Portugal, University of Porto, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto-Douro, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Porto Superior Institute of Engineering, Universidade Aberta and the Centre for Computer Graphics –, end-users – Jornal de Notícias, OSTV, Porto Canal, Tadinense Artes Gráfica, Altice Labs and GMK Produções – and two clusters – TICE and ADDICT.

The project is organised in 10 pilots, with INESC TEC being involved in five of these activities and bringing with it its university partners FEUP, FLUP, FBAUP, UTAD, UAberta and ISEP, which in total participate in eight of the activities. Altogether, INESC TEC and its partners have secured a total investment of over two million euros in the project.

The INESC TEC researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC and UP-FEUP.