Innovator Rob Bole contemplates pubmedia use of electronics trends

On his personal blog, Public Purpose Media, Rob Bole, CPB veep for digital media strategies, delves into how pubcasting can and should adopt innovations he saw at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "Public media needs an innovation agenda," he writes. "It needs to be clear, rational and focused on providing short- and medium-term value to the system and the consumer. The good news is that this is not hard. The bad news is that we have to change our ways, especially how we collaborate to get it done." Specific ideas: PubTV should enhance the "value and utility" of programming by developing widgets, especially with set-top box manufacturers like Boxee. Also, invest in educational gaming. Create interactive content for multiple platforms; he calls that "an opportunity for low costs and high returns."Increase accessibility to archived content. His suggestions for doing all this include reallocating resources to create an annual $10 million dollar public media innovation development fund, and creating a Public Media Research & Development Council. Bole notes on the blog it "reflects his own personal opinions."