Digital Media in East Asia: National Innovation and the Transform ...

of the fastest moving technological and societal transformations in human history.

Digital Media in East Asia draws heavily on existing scholarly research on the evolution of digital media in East Asia and benefits significantly from the work that has been done to date. This book agrees with the beliefs, held by many, that cultures influence the adoption and shape the impact of new technologies and that technologies can have broad and unanticipated impacts on societies. Scholars of East Asia have argued for years about the importance of the capitalist development state, and ample evidence is found of the continued relevance and importance of this impressive body of scholarship, connected to the expanding literature on national innovation systems. Governments have clearly played an influential role in determining the shape of the digital revolution in East Asia and intend to continue to guide and form the technological transitions in the years to come. Reliance on the excellent scholarship and commentary on contemporary East Asian society will be evident in the chapters that follow.

Finally, this book has two primary purposes. The first goal is to describe the evolution of the digital economy and digital media in East Asia. This will be undertaken on a regional basis, with considerable attention paid to both national and intraregional developments. There is a need to integrate the discussion across the technological, policy, service content, and cultural sectors. Therefore, Digital Media in East Asia, of necessity, looks at the general developments and activities within the digital sector and does not probe into the details of any particular element. The scholarship and commentary on digital media in East Asia is sufficient for such a work of synthesis, for this is a classic example of where the broader picture has largely been lost in the sea of details and specific developments.

Secondly, the book explores the multifaceted and complex ways in which digital media and digital technologies are transforming East Asian society. A starting point for this book is that the digital media revolution reflects regional cultural attributes. The digital transformation in East Asia has been quite different than in other parts of the world, largely because