AFP and NUMA to launch media innovation lab on december

AFP and NUMA to launch media innovation lab on 1 december AFP and Numa have joined forces to create a permanent, open collaborative framework for finding new media solutions.

19 Nov 2014

At a time when the flow of information seems endless and private citizens have become content producers, fresh challenges are arising for news providers. Every day AFP reviews and calls into question the ways it covers, produces, edits and broadcasts the news in order to improve its response, turnaround time, and the quality of its services.

For the 70th anniversary of its renaissance , Agence France-Presse is taking a proactive approach to innovation. The agency aims to use its strengths as a base for developing new offers offers that will be constantly adapted in order to best meet ever-changing needs, across all media and all aspects of production: text, photos, videos, graphics, videographics, web and mobile.

A key player in promoting entrepreneurship and digital innovation in Paris for more than 14 years, NUMA has created a vital hub for collaboration in innovative formats to encourage start-ups and transformation. It aims to bring together:

Project holders who have come up with innovative solutions but lack test cases to validate their ideas.

Companies that have resources (particularly data) and practical issues which would benefit from an ecosystem of people working together on these challenges.

Our job is first and foremost to break down traditional walls and shake up ideas. By creating a place conducive to effecting change, we endeavour to bring different models together and trigger significant transformation within the media sector, explained Marie-Vorgan le Barzic, NUMA's CEO.

AFP has clearly chosen the path of innovation. All of our text, photo, and video production must be accessible to all of our clients, across all media, 24/7, around the globe. This historic challenge, with constantly shifting parameters, means we have to foster a climate for unprecedented research and development. We must undertake this in a manner open to all companies and start-ups in the digital sector. That is what makes our partnership with NUMA especially important, added Emmanuel Hoog, AFP's CEO.

During a six-month programme, AFP and NUMA will invite technology solution providers (small and mid-sized companies, start-ups, etc.) and media players to explore new challenges through meetings and prototyping opportunities with AFP.

This programme revolves around three axes:

Databases: improve the operability of the AFP databases and enhance their capacity to be used in combination with others.

Users: educate AFP clients and end-users so they can make the most of what we offer and involve them in the creative process for developing new tools and products.

Products: develop new tools and solutions for AFP's clients.

The challenges to be explored over the course of the programme will be presented at its launch on 1 December.

About AFP

AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,260 staff spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.

About NUMA

NUMA is more than a community organization, its a composite dynamic. Our mission is to disseminate and support the passion for entrepreneurship, the ambition to shift the lines and to challenge the status quo. Our name refers to the digital ( num rique ) core of the ongoing economic and cultural revolution. NUMA is first and foremost about connecting people. We bring together a very diverse array of players: entrepreneurs, academics, public authorities, small and large enterprises, associations, communities... These highly complementary partners are eager for synergies and new challenges, and they are the undeniable drivers of our competitiveness. To startups and project developers alike, NUMA offers the best conditions and opportunities available in Paris for their autonomous development and growth. We are located at 39 rue du Caire, 2nd arrondissement, in the very centre of Paris. NUMA is open to any and all, be they inquiring minds, experts or professionals, from Monday to Friday (9:00 to 20:00). Every year, NUMA welcomes close to 80000 visitors, and hosts about 1000 events. Attendance is usually free and open to the public. We cater to a variety of audiences, and cover topics ranging from the strictly digital to wider cross-cutting issues such as culture, art, health, the environment, economics, fashion, education, or collaborative trends.

LINK:	http://www.afp.com/en/agency/press-releases-newsletter/afp-and-numa-la...
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