About Us
MEDEA
MEDEA, Mediterranean Europe and Africa, is an independent High-Level Group set up by the Italian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications, operating in the Mediterranean area.
MEDEA is apolitical, independent and not for profit. Its scope is to facilitate dialogue on regulatory policy within the MEDEA region, creating more opportunities for open discussion, the exchange of ideas and the shaping of digital policy. Its main purpose is to ensure the use of communication as a positive factor for human and social change, and promote a stronger representation of the Mediterranean region, with the aim to influence the discussion agenda globally.
In order to achieve this goal, MEDEA intends to operate according to guidelines aimed at:
- identifying and debate key issues in digital communications policies;
- promoting an environment conductive to global, interdisciplinary, multilateral, independent, humanitarian and ethical approach to the digital transformation;
- producing high quality events, studies and research;
- creating and maintaining an international network among the members present in every sector of communication, offering them the possibility of comparison and reciprocal exchange in a not competitive environment.
Joan Barata
Senior Legal Fellow of the Future of Free Speech project at Justitia, Intermediary Liability Fellow, Program on Platform Regulation, Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University. Joan works on freedom of expression, media regulation, and intermediary liability issues. He teaches at various universities in different parts of the world and has published a large number of articles and books on these subjects, both in academic and popular press. His work has taken him in most regions of the world, and he is regularly involved in projects with international organizations such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, where was the principal advisor to the Representative on Media Freedom. Joan Barata also has experience as a regulator, as he held the position of Secretary General of the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia in Spain and was member of the Permanent Secretariat of the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities.
Sally Broughton Micova
Associate Professor in Communications Policy and Politics at the University of East Anglia and member of its Centre for Competition Policy. Sally is also an Academic Co-Director at the Centre for Regulation in Europe (CERRE), and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Communication Studies in North Macedonia. She regularly serves as an expert for the Council of Europe’s media programmes and has contributed to research projects for the European Commission. She completed her PhD in 2013 at the LSE. Before entering academia, she worked over a decade in international organisations.
Drissia Chouit
Co-Chair of UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance; Former Consultant to UNESCO, Dr. Drissia CHOUIT is a Professor of Comparative Linguistics, Communication and Media Studies at Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Morocco; Member of UNESCO International University Network on Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue (https://en.unesco.org/themes/media-and-information-literacy/milidnetwork/Members); and fervent advocate of Media and Information Literacy for All.
Jean-François Furnémont
Founding Partner of Wagner-Hatfield, a research and consulting company specialized on policy, regulation and strategy in the media and digital economy sectors. Jean-François holds a BA in Journalism and Communication Studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles – ULB, a MA in International Relations and European policy at the Université de Liège – ULG and a MA in Public Finances at the Université Catholique de Louvain – UCL. As former freelance journalist and former spokesman of a political party, he is the author of several books of political science and a number of publications on media policy and regulation. He held the position of Director General (2003-2014) of the audiovisual media regulatory authority (CSA) of the French speaking Community in Belgium. He has also been actively involved in the Board of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) as vice-Chairman (2008-2011) and as Chairman (2011-2014). As the author of many studies, research projects and publications, he excels in the following fields : drafting and reviewing of media primary/secondary legislation and broadcasting codes, advice and capacity building for media regulatory authorities and ministries, material scope of media regulation (online media, social networks, video-sharing platforms), jurisdiction issues, licensing and related systems, media concentration and transparency of media ownership, promotion of domestic and European works and financial support schemes to audiovisual creation, hate speech, fight against disinformation, protection of minors, commercial communications, articulation between self- and co-regulation and statutory regulation.
Nouri Lajmi
Past President of the Independent High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAICA), Tunisia (2013-2023), Past REFRAM President (French speaking Authorities network), Full-time lecturer at the Press and Information Science Institute (Tunisia), Consultant to the Canadian International Development Agency for the implementation of a program for Canadian journalists, Mission to Africa (Senegal and Burkina Faso) for the Canadian International Development Agency and Oxfam/Quebec; Associate Professor at the Department of Information and Communication at Laval University in Quebec City; Consultant to the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA, for the revision of French texts;; Project manager at the Centre for Media Studies: Coordinator of a professional training program designed for ethnocultural journalists in Montreal; Co-animator of a training seminar organized by the International Council of French-Speaking Radio and Television (CIRTEF); Journalist at Stratégies magazine published in Montreal: editor and editorial advisor on development, human rights and democratic change. Contractual at Laval University for the preparation of a publication entitled “Media and Democracy”. Associate researcher at the Institut québécois de recherche sur la culture (IQRC). Co-author of a study entitled: La circulation des artistes et des produits culturels dans l’espace francophone, published in April 1994. Columnist and literary critic for Images, an intercultural magazine published in Montreal, Organizational assistant at the Fédération professionnelle, : Full-time professor at the Institute of Press and Information Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis, : Cultural Advisor to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Journalist for the daily La Presse de Tunisie, Journalist at the Tunisian daily Le Renouveau, Journalist for Dialogue magazine
Persa E. Lampropoulou
Legal Advisor to the (Greek) National Council for Radio and Television since 1999 and a Partner at Anagnostopoulos Law Firm. Persa received her education at the University of Athens, Department of Law (1990) and the University of London, QMWC (M.Sc. in Public Policy, 1993). She is contributor to Media Law (by Prof. I. Karakostas in 1998). She is a member of the Athens Bar Association (1994), the International Bar Association and the Commercial Lawyers Association.
Adriana Mutu
Professor specialized in audiovisual media regulation, media independence, governance and policymaking at the international level. Adriana brings together academic and industry knowledge, cross-disciplinary training and research experience including in Europe, North America and MENA. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and a MA degree in Journalism and Communication Sciences from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. She conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania and at the University of Helsinki. Member of the Daniel Jones Research Group in Communication Structure and Policies at the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the UAB. Provides expertise and assistance to different entities and international organizations, including the Council of Europe.
Andrea Stazi
Professor of Comparative Law, and New Technologies Law & Management and Director of Research Centres at European University of Rome; Visiting Professor in Biotechnology Law and Academic Fellow at National University of Singapore. Publications: 10 books and 70+ articles in academic journals. Government Affairs & Public Policy – Regulatory Affairs Lead South Europe and Academic Outreach Europe at Google.
Augusto Preta
Board member of the International Institute of Communications (IIC) and President of the IIC Italian Chapter. Augusto is an economist and market analyst, with long-established experience in the field of content media and digital markets. As founder and CEO at ITMedia Consulting, he has assisted and advised for almost 30 years public institutions, authorities and major companies in media, telecommunications and the internet industries. He is also member of well known public and private organisations, such as SIE (Società Italiana degli Economisti), ADEC (Associazione di Diritto ed Economia delle Comunicazioni e dei media digitali) among the others. He has been involved in many international research projects, writing influential papers and cooperating with organisations such as: Aspen Institute, European Law and Economics Society, Luigi Einaudi Foundation. He is author of “Economia dei contenuti” (2008),“TV and relevant markets” (2013) and more recently the Fondation Robert Schuman research report “Convergence in Media and Telecom in face of Covid-19” ((co-authored with Gerard Pogorel – 2020) and the paper co-financed by the European Parliament, “Digital content and European culture: a new paradigm”.
Francesco Sciacchitano
Italian senior lawyer with a specialization in communications law and administrative law and a passion for international relations and cultural diversity. After completing his studies in Italy and receiving the laude at his MBA in the United States, Francesco worked at the Bear Stearns Finance Department of New York and was then hired by AGCOM, the Italian communications regulatory authority, where he has worked in the last 17 years in both the audio-visual and the telecommunications sector. Since 2005 he has been in charge of all the international projects carried out by AGCOM in the Balkans and in the MENA area, managing a budget amounting to more than 10 mln euro, has been assigned peer-reviews of the communications sector in various Countries and has led working groups in all the internationals platforms of regulators – BEREC, ERGA, EMERG. During this period, he published many articles and reports on the legal frameworks of the communications sector in Italy and in the Countries where he worked, and he is now writing two books on the digitization of the public administration and the challenges of OTTs and IoT for the communications sector in Europe. He teaches at the St. John’s University of New York and at the Universities of LUISS and Tor Vergata in Rome.
Events
MEDEA therefore intends to promote various initiatives, in particular:
a) conferences, workshops, seminars, other meetings;
b) cultural and educational activities;
c) joint-activities carried out by the IIC and other institutional organizations (i.e. EU Commission, NRAs)
Institutional Partner
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