This article explores how, in an era of increased globalization with respect to investment, trade and `flows' of certain goods and services, nation-states and cultural factors still play an important, if somewhat changing, role in relation to the development of content for new multimedia platforms. This article critically engages with the `global march of technology' thesis as it applies to the field of multimedia `content' applications. We define this multimedia applications field as both an emerging new media industry and a new cultural form which (like the mature media) offers a potential public space for the negotiation of cultural values and forms of identity. We are mainly concerned with the application of multimedia technologies for the production of cultural products aimed at final users in the home and the implications of current globalization trends for diversity of content and local cultures. The article also addresses aspects of national and EU public policies related to the support of the digital `content' industry. To explore these concerns, this article draws upon a detailed case study conducted over a period of two years in the Irish branch of a multinational software company. One team in this branch was involved in the localization of different forms of on-line information developed for the American market but reedited for different European markets.
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