It’s Saturday and the conference frenzy has died down. We’re left with tons of information to digest.

One of the feedback given by participants was the lack of time for the Q&A session. This is hardly surprising, considering the expanse of topics that were supposed to be covered within the short period of time.

Hopefully, by next year, we’ll have manageable bites of New Media issues to chew on and more time would be allocated for questions and discussions.

After sitting through Session 1, one issue that really struck me was how powerful Asia could be if a regional standard of new media was created for everyone else to follow. As what Dr Madan said to me, if there was a consolidation of responsibilities and involvement, Asia could very well surpass the EU in terms of technology and expertise. The crucial key to achieving that is to avoid making the same mistake that the EU is making. The latter’s progress in New Media has been largely hindered by bureaucratic policies and red tapes. These would only serve to slow down the various cooperatives planned by private industries.

Perhaps that’s why some business owners are so adamant that the government have no say at all in how the media business is run. Having seen the slowdown caused by inefficient policies, most private companies are more than happy to run the show by themselves.

However, knowing very well the kind of cultural context Asia has, media business owners might as well find a way to live with their civil service counterpart harmoniously. After all, a little public protection here and there for the time being might just help ease the society into media freedom, slowly. Who knows, governments would eventually feel that they are not needed when it comes to policing the media?

“He who predicts the future lies, even if he tells the truth.” An Arab proverb that was used generously (and rightly so) during any moments of prediction at the conference. I suppose it served as a form of disclaimer.

However, allow me to share an Alan Kay quote, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”.

Perhaps after knowing the sentiments of delegates from all around the world, we are in a better position to create a more desirable future. A future that would have the right mix and balance of involvement, entrepreneurship, innovation and…. nanny-ing.