About MATISZ

Hungarian Association of Content Industry

The Hungarian Association of Content Industry (MATISZ, www.matisz.hu) was registered in January, 2002 as the successor of a former organisation, the Hungarian Association of Database Suppliers founded in 1991. The transformation is due to the change in activity and change in membership. MATISZ basic objectives are:

  • To perform professional interest representation and interest protection for members operating on the field of IT content development, distribution and related infrastructure;
  • To promote free flow of information, the eContent market and the more effective social exploitation of information;
  • To accelerate the international economic and R&D relations of the Hungarian content industry;
  • To harmonize interests of social development and membership on the field of law making, regulation and introduction of new processes related to content industry;
  • To watch over the professional and ethical norms of the IT-sector and to take steps against practices violating generally accepted norms;
  • To organise workshops, symposia, conferences and other events to implement the above objectives.

The organisation has 150 members – three-quarters of them are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). About 50 companies – mainly SMEs – out of the 150 members are engaged directly or indirectly in multimedia production. Others have key position in telecommunications and at the same time are key Internet providers.

The Hungarian Association of Content Industry also includes libraries with significant multimedia content (e.g. National Széchényi Library), museums and archives (Hungarian National FilmArchive), the Hungarian Patent Office as well as other organizations, which contribute indirectly to the development of multimedia applications (Hungarian National Host, Hundidact Association, Hungaronet Union).

Namely out of the 150 members

  • 49 are content builders (33%),
  • 6 are engaged in telecommunications and at the same time Internet providers (4%),
  • 33 are hardware and software distributors or system integrators (22%) and
  • 62 are users (libraries, nonprofit organisations, schools etc.) (41%)

1) CO-OPERATION WITH IT AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS, AFFILIATIONS

The Hungarian Association of Content Industry is the member of organizations having key significance in the development of the Hungarian Information Society and multimedia sector. These are: Conciliatory Forum for Informatics, Telecommunication Conciliatory Forum, Hungarian Association of IT Companies (www.ivsz.hu), Cable Television and Communication Association, János Neumann Digital Library and Multimedia Centre (www.neumann-haz.hu), John von Neumann Computer Society (www.njszt.hu), Hungarian Federation for Electronics and Infocommunication (www.meisz.hu)

It maintains membership also with the Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists (www.mgyosz.hu).

2) EU contact frame, international relations

MATISZ has already established a European contact system to increase and support actively the foreign employment opportunities of the Hungarian IT workers, as well as to help it’s member organisations to develop Europe-wide co-operations.
Our partner is EMF (European Multimedia Forum - MATISZ membership – www.e-multimedia.org).

2.1    Participation in EU 5th R&D Framework Programme

  • ACTeN (Anticipating Content Technology Needs) monitoring eContent industry and transfer know-how in Europe, organising business roundtable about eLearning and Broadband Infrastructure areas.

2.2    Participation in EU 6 – 7 th R&D Framework Programme

  • PATENT (Partnership Agreement between Content and Technology)
  • Ablities (Application Bus for InteroperabiLITy In enlarged Europe SMEs)
  • LEKTOR

2.3    Participation in other EU Programmes

  • Safer Internet (Hotline.hu project) to report illegal and harmful Hungarian online content
  • Leonardo (Blind project) a complex vocational training service on the field of Informatics for blind trainees
  • EQUAL (IT-Mentor project) that help people with disadvantageous job situation (unemployed, inactive, 45+) to reintegrate into the labour-force using an innovative method in IT sector
  • Leonardo (EQF-Code project) transferring and applying instruments European Qualification Frame-work and e-Competence Framework to Multimedia professions in the field of Content Development
  • Lifelong Learning Programme (ProInterNet-PIN project) creates a network of key players in the area of ICT and Multimedia skills in SMEs.

3) Main Lines of Activity

  • eContent. MATISZ has prepared the plan of the eContent national network, which is based on the EU Competitiveness and Innovation Framework (CIP) ICT Policy Support programme, and aims to develop the national content industry. The organisation participates in the realisation in the Hungarian content development programme, which supports the EU CIP applications.
  • eFestival. (www.eFestival.hu) eFestival is the annual contest of Hungarian multimedia, online and mobile businesses, contents and eCommerce solutions, an introduction for the newcomers of the Hungarian online economy. A common determination of the competition is to provide Hungarian users with more excellent and high-quality Hungarian eContent. First time in 2001, the eFestival was organised by the  Hungarian Association of Content Industry in co-operation with the EMPIRE Communications, the first Hungarian multimedia contest in order to show the widest audience the best Hungarian quality multimedia applications. Winners were registered to Europrix and eFestival was supported among others by the Office of the Government Commissioner for ICT and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. Since then, eFestival bacame the biggest Award for Hungarian quality eContent solutions, and the winners of eFestival can participate as a pre-selection contest in severeal international competitions. Since 2010, during the pre-selection of eFestival nominees, all the websites were evaluated on the ground of the User Friendly Website qualification system. There are 8 entry categories: e-Government / Institutions, e-Health / Environment, e-Learning / Education, e-Entertainment / Games, eCulture / Cultural Heritage / Tourism, e-Science / Technology, e-Business / Commerce, e-Inclusion / Participation. The eFestival winners participates on international competitions with MATISZ support, such as Europrix Multimedia Awards (www.europrix.org), the SEAL Prize (European Seal of e-Excellence www.seal-of-excellence.org), World Summit Award (www.wsis-award.org)with considerable international success.
  • The CreaSpace Conferences. The Hungarian Association of Content Industry organizes every year the CreaSpace (earlier called DAT) conferences. The conferences concentrate on the digital content related issues from eContent, CIP and other EU support programmes, through the development of the Hungarian content industry to the discussion of the latest achievements and challenges of the sector. Generally 300-400 participants are registered on these conferences. The conference closes with the eFestival Award Giving ceremony.
  • Digital Document Consortium was established in order to disseminate the eGovernment services.
  • “Tasks and application possibilities of EU accession” Conference
  • „Employment opportunities and conditions of EU informatics sector  (EUjob)” Conferences

4) Co-operations

provides funding for activities to deal with illegal and harmful content, as part of a coherent approach by the European Union. This programme is an extension of the Safer Internet Action Plan which ended on 31 December 2002, and allows activities to continue for a further two years. Safer Internet aims to ensure more extensive interfacing with national programmes and actions, improved exchange of information and best practice between Member State activities as well as between the action lines of the programme. MATISZ has joined the programme with partner organisations, like Ministry of Informatics and Communications as well as Friendly Internet Forum (Inforum, MTE).
In the framework of Safer Internet programme MATISZ won EU funding for the Hotline.hu application and since February 2005 it operates a Hungarian hotline to tackle illegal and harmful content on the Internet and new delivery platforms (www.internethotline.hu).

The basic goal is to study, design and develop a federated architecture implemented by a set of intelligent and adaptive UBL active messages (an Application Bus for EAI) and basic interoperability services, which aims at supporting SMEs EAI in e-commerce contexts, specifically in less developed Countries and less RTD intensive industrial sectors.

  • The Creative Industries Platform (KIP) focuses to the following R&D and innovation areas:

- The promotion of the internationally accredited Hungarian educational achievements by value-added digitization and the development of their networked training systems focusing on the following areas: mathematics, physics, music, conductive pedagogy;  
- Creating a copyright-friendly electronic environment that supports payments and distribution based on the common interests of users / learners and authors;    
- Digital dissemination technologies of books;    
- Development of networked learning environments with special interests on disabled and elderly people (eInclusion);    
- Promoting the following activities in the application areas of interactive television, video games, education, tourism, museums and library: Digital content creation, content dissemination with the use of multi-platform environments; original research in the areas of searching technologies; development of related standards; development of technologies ensuring interoperate usability; development of content supply systems; development of test environments.    
- Development of supply systems of digital films, video games.

  • Adatbázis Jogvédő Egyesület (AJE, Association for Database Rights Protection, www.aje.hu)

In 1996, 12 colleagues form MATISZ member organisations created AJE in order to provide legal protection for databases under Sui Generis Right. Until 2005, operation of AJE was also provided by MATISZ. Since then, the organization become partially independent (though MATISZ kept the presidency), the staff has increased and AJE started new services, like the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration.

The Hungarian Foundation of Distance Education was founded in 1992 by the Ministry of Labour, the Hungarian Television and New Teletext Ltd. in order to enhance the employees’ situation on the labour market, increase their possibilities of getting jobs, to contribute to the improvement of job culture and to ensure the involvement of the widest range of population in the vocational training on the long term by means of distance education, eLearning. Since January, 1991 the Foundation is operated by MATISZ.

EC Register of interest representatives

Hungarian Association of Content Industry

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Magyar Tartalomipari Szövetség (MATISZ) © 2011, MINDEN JOG FENNTARTVA