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Training and development
News Release from: University College Falmouth | Subject: Media training
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 19 December 2007
Falmouth part of SW Skillset Media
Academy
University College Falmouth is to become the first Skillset Media Academy in the South West as part of the world's first Media Academy Network.
In a week that has seen University College Falmouth's Broadcasting and Graphic Design students excel in leading national awards schemes such as the Royal Television Society's Regional Awards and the FutureTalent Awards, the College has become the first Skillset Media Academy in the South West as part of the world's first Media Academy Network This innovative national network of excellence was launched on behalf of Skillset - the UK Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries - in London by Culture Minister James Purnell and Skills Minister David Lammy, together with leading figures from the media and academia - to create a national footprint of colleges and universities to work with industry in developing a new wave of talent to create the Facebook, You Tube and Bebo-style concepts and media content of the future
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 4 Dec 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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Staff from University College Falmouth's undergraduate and postgraduate media courses, and BA(Hons) Graphic Design, which has also won recognition as part of Falmouth's Skillset Media Academy Network status, together with partners from Cornwall College and Truro College, attended the launch of the new Skillset Media Academy Network.
After presentations by former Director General of the BBC, Greg Dyke and ministers, University College Falmouth's Director of Media, Paul Inman, was presented with an award confirming the College's status as one of just 17 Skillset Media Academies in the UK, and the first Skillset Media Academy in the South West.
"University College Falmouth is delighted to be recognised as a centre of excellence in the field of vocational education and training for the media industries in the UK," commented Paul Inman.
"Our new official status as a Skillset Media Academy will enable us to attract more students to the College and invest in visiting speakers and lecturers of the highest calibre," he added.
"It will also mean that we can focus on a number of strategic projects relating to IPTV and emerging media technologies which are changing the face of media around the world".
The Skillset Media Academy Network is made up of 17 Academies, drawing together creative education partnerships from 43 colleges and universities across the UK.
The institutions in the network are already centres of excellence in television production and interactive media.
This is the first attempt anywhere in the world to 'hardwire' collaborative partnerships between the media industries and academia into the fabric of national education infrastructure.
The network will see world-leading academics, content creators, computer games developers, software programmers and creative artists working with industry to develop talent, creativity and business ideas to exploit new technologies and opportunities in broadcast television and interactive media.
The engagement of industry will be at the highest level.
Sir Christopher Frayling, Chairman of the Arts Council of England, Rector of the Royal College of Art and noted commentator on culture and media, said: "The creation of the Skillset Media Academy Network is a big step forward for Higher Education in the UK.
"With the new technologies in media and communications, we now find ourselves in a world that doesn't have borders and boundaries, a place of online social networks where people 'put their lives online' and increasingly use interactive media applications to navigate their way through everyday living.
"The space of places is making way for the space of flows.
"Pioneers and innovators, in this digital and interactive world, will play a key role - creative men and women from wide and varied backgrounds with the skills, information and knowledge to harness existing and create new media technologies for the benefit of all of us.
"It is absolutely fundamental that we lay down the educational infrastructure bringing together our finest minds, entrepreneurial flair and the best technical know-how.
"It's a question of convergence; the Skillset Media Academy Network represents a new approach for a new digital age".
Greg Dyke, former Director General of the BBC, Skillset patron and chair of the Media Academy approvals panel, said: "We live in a very competitive world where one good idea can see a person move from mum's garage to global media magnate virtually overnight.
"The problem for the UK, though, is that a lot of people all over the world are having good ideas in television and interactive media.
"Good ideas are simply not enough - they have to be world-beating.
"This is where education and industry collaboration can play a crucial role.".
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