Radioswap.net (First phase : January 2002 - December 2003)

Description :

The Radioswap.net project aims to develop a technical as well as organisational system that will allow staff working for non-commercial and community radio stations - inside and outside Belgium - to exchange radio programmes via the Internet.

The system’s operation will need to offer the greatest possible flexibility while, at the same time, maintain - and valorise- the specificities and geographical (and cultural) roots of each of the partner radio stations.

Each presenter and producer will be able to choose to make their programmes available or to use those offered by other radio stations in exchange. The basis for the exchange will therefore be individual decision-making. Nevertheless, these decisions will each have their own "regulatory framework" defining the conditions for that particular exchange - one that will be devised on a collegiate basis by the radio stations’ collective.
Technically, as well as adopting and perfecting a common compression standard for both computer files and programme downloading/depositing procedures, a multi-criteria rating system (content and form) will be developed in order to best meet the specific needs of the world of radio and also allow multilingual searches.

The aim is to develop a tool to cater for the desire often expressed by radio presenters to be able to exchange programmes. Hitherto, this desire, because of the volunteer nature of associative radio station management and the technical constraints imposed by "conventional" communication means, has seldom had the chance to develop firmly on a lasting basis. Within this specific context, we expect Radioswap.net to make possible the daily exchange of programmes for the greatest number of producers and programme-makers without increasing their workload.

Radioswap.net will also organise networking between the various parties involved in order to encourage the implementation of collaboration projects between the various radio stations and their various producers. By making it possible to let circulate excerpts of programmes in production between radio stations within a co-production framework, it will provide the parties involved with the possibility to break their relative isolation and commit themselves to more ambitious projects of the kind that a single radio station might find it hard to bring to fruition.

Phase one of the project will comprise the development of the exchange site and the various applications while making allowance for the technological desires, needs and skills of all persons involved within the six community radio stations.
The six radio stations in question will then allow full-scale testing to be conducted regarding the effectiveness and suitability of the chosen options. This should pinpoint any changes that long-term use would necessitate.
The project’s "user partners" are RUN (Namur), Radio Panik (Brussels), Radio Centraal (Anvers), URGent (Gand), FM bssl (Brussels) and Radio Campus (Brussels), with the latter also acting as project coordinator.
The development of Radioswap.net will also be supported by the work of "expert partners" from various university research centres. A ULB researcher in social sciences will work on organisational aspects linked to the introduction of the new technologies in the specific field of associative radio stations. RDIS (ULB) will develop the system’s multilingual rating system. CRID (FUNDP) will study issues linked to copyright raised by the existence and daily use of Radioswap.net.

Phase two will see the system’s expansion to include other associative and community radio stations inside and outside Belgium. During this period, particular attention will be paid to making Radioswap.net accessible to radio stations in southern countries.

- Contact person (project's coordinator):

Campus Audio Visuel asbl
Didier Demorcy
Avenue Paul Héger 22
1000 BRUXELLES
Tel : 02 640 87 17
Fax : 02 650 34 63
rcampus@resulb.ulb.ac.be

PARTNERSHIP

Coordinator Campus Audio Visuel asbl

Partner 1 Gentse Studentenradio vzw

Partner 2 Office de Radiodiffusion des étudiants des Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix asbl

Partner 3 Radio Centraal vzw

Partner 4 Radio Panik asbl

Partner 5 FM Brussel vzw

Partner 6 Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Groupe de réflexion sur les processus organisationnels (GREPO)

Partner 7 Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix de Namur (FUNDP) Centre de Recherche Informatique et Droit (CRID)

Partner 8 Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Recherche et Diffusion de l’Information Scientifique (RDIS)