How can media technology help digitalize the tourism industry?
This was one of the main questions raised during NCE Tourism's very first conference, with a number of companies from both the Tourism and the Media Cluster represented on stage. The conference also included an expo in the Media Lab, where Media Cluster Companies Bolder, Rainfall AS, Capsule.fm, Høgskulen på Vestlandet HVL, Scanreach and Think Outside showcased their demos for around 100 guests.
A virtual demo of the Bergen mountains project (Vidden) were set up in the media lab, with attendees getting a glimpse of the opportunities that arise when technology and tourism is intertwined. The project was presented by Rune Smistad (NCE Media) and Per Gunnar Hettervik (NCE Tourism).
Rune Smistad, project developer at NCE Media.
CEO of NCE Tourism, Dag Jarle Aksnes, highlighted the importance of technology in experience based tourism.
– It was very exciting to visit NCE Media and the Media Lab, where we had the chance to test some of the tech we have been developing for the Vidden project. Experience based tourism is exploding, with new solutions and technology creating new opportunities. We have a very close cooperation with NCE Media, and this is probably just the start of many exciting projects in the future, said Aksnes.
Dag Jarle Aksnes, CEO of NCE Tourism
Cross-sector collaboration
Anne Jacobsen, Media Cluster CEO, gave the audience an introduction to Media City Bergen and shared some insight on how industry clusters could (& should!) cooperate across different sectors.
Anne Jacobsen, CEO of the Norwegian Media Cluster.
Following Jacobsen was Vizrt's Petter Ole Jakobsen, with the Vizrt CTO giving a talk on the possibilities that arise when companies are working together, a strategy also applicable to businesses within the travel industry.
Petter Ole Jacobsen, CTO at Vizrt.
PS: You can watch the sessions from the conference at Ørnen here.