Does culture create new jobs in the information society?: Strategic issues and new professional profiles

The demand for professionals qualified for handling multimedia services and products has increased significantly in recent years and today there is a lack of staff with competencies corresponding to the demands of the information society in most businesses. However, new competencies are needed if new and interesting products are to be developed in order to make business prosperous. This is also an important issue for the cultural sector which needs to re‐qualify staff in order to compete with other businesses on the provision of information. This implies that information professionals and knowledge workers must be educated and further trained, requiring a qualification campaign on a broad basis. New qualifications are needed within the traditional cultural industries and institutions ‐ people with technical skills as well as readiness for lifelong learning ‐ if the new possibilities and challenges are to be met.