Digital Media in East Asia: National Innovation and the Transformation of a Region

Digital Media in East Asia sees digital media as an important element in the integration of South Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan, with economic/commercial interaction now being accompanied by regional sharing of content and services. It argues that the underappreciated scale of East Asian activity in this key sector is setting up the region as a global leader in the new economy, quietly building global dominance in manufacturing, digital implementations and, most recently, digital content production. The book also argues that the rise of prominence reflects the still active presence of national governments in East Asia in selecting and promoting commercial success in emerging industries. The combination of infrastructure development, regulation, investment, training and promotion used by each of the national governments in the study has produced impressive national and regional integration across manufacturing, service, government and education. The national innovation strategies of the East Asian governments have, in sum, produced impressive results, sparking widespread private sector investment and the development of sizeable content production communities. Of particular importance is the reality that linguistic and cultural barriers are keeping most of the digital content within East Asia, the world's fastest growing market for digital materials, a process that is re-enforcing the developing cultural ties within the region. Digital Media in East Asia makes significant contributions to East Asian studies (Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China), the scholarship on national innovation, and to debates about the economic, social, cultural, and political importance of digital media. As such, it will be of value in media studies/cultural studies collections, and will be of interest to scholars of Asian business, political science, national innovation, and political economy.