Public 4.0

The Future of SRF in the digital Ecosystem

Digitalisation is turning the media world upside down. New technologies accommodate and require new media formats. They are transforming users’ behaviour and the international competition. Like all audio-visual media, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG) is also in the midst of a transition.

In its new study Public 4.0 (available in German and French), GDI analyses how public media can shape and take advantage of these changes. The study, which was commissioned by SRG, illustrates how media should incorporate innovation at all levels:

• Technology: Whether virtual reality or zero interface, audio-visual media must invest in new technologies.
• Content: The strict division between producers and consumers has become blurred; co-creation and participation are becoming increasingly important..
• Organisation: Innovation takes place within networks. Structural reforms must ensure that in future SRG can adapt flexibly to transformation – and even help to drive it.
• Mental: To fully tap into the opportunities afforded by the new media ecosystem, the large media companies in particular must cultivate a culture of experimentation.

This public service mission specifically offers SRG the opportunity to position itself as a tool of democracy in the digital age. The public service sector of the future will be tasked with promoting cohesion and diversity of opinion in Switzerland beyond filter bubbles and population divides – as a financially and politically independent, democratically legitimate force.