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The contribution of the creative industries to the national innovation system

Friday 4 July, 2008. 9am - 5pm
Hotel Realm, Barton, Canberra.

Workshop attendance — open to public

Topic brief

There is growing interest in the contribution of the creative industries to innovation. These industries comprise design, architecture, fashion, film and video, advertising, publishing, art, music, software and online content, animation and computer games, and the performing arts. Such industries account for a significant and expanding proportion of GDP in many OECD economies – an economic prominence linked in part to the dramatic impact of information and communication technology (ICT). Some countries are now moving on to frame advocacy and policy making around the broader concept of the “creative economy” – stressing the wide-ranging impact of creative professionals throughout the whole economy.

ICT has become the key enabler of these creative activities by allowing space and time to be compressed in a manner that dramatically facilitates interpersonal communication and therefore networking-based interactive innovation. The rise of these industries has been associated with open source intellectual property (IP) strategies, inter-disciplinarity and user-led innovation.

The growing prominence of the aesthetic domain associated with the rise of the creative industries has acted to reinforce the importance of aesthetic design as a competitive parameter throughout the economy – from products to building design. Corporate success rests as much upon capability to deliver aesthetic design as on the underlying scientific and engineering capabilities. This trend has supported the outsourcing of routine manufacturing and engineering/software design processes on a global scale. It leads to the creation of extremely valuable brands/intangible assets associated with positioning in complex external networks rather than factors internal to a corporation.

The increased attention paid by those studying the creative industries to aesthetics and complex networks in competitiveness is also now associated with an increased interest in culture from both academic researchers and consulting companies. Evolutionary economists, anthropologists, sociologists, cultural historians and many others are interested in understanding the role played by culture in market processes, corporate strategy, institutional structures and individuals’ preferences. This interdisciplinary work is characterised by an emphasis on applying complex systems and evolutionary approaches to understand how cultures evolve over time.

Key questions

1. Are the lessons for wider innovation policy stressed by advocates of the creative industries perspective robust (particularly in regard to the importance of the complex interconnectivity of institutions and people as a source of innovation)?
2. Are the lessons transferable to other parts of the innovation system (particularly in regard to the application of complex systems/evolutionary approaches)?
3. Is the distinction between the traditional creative industries and the new digital media-related industries oversold with regard to the wider implications for innovation policy?
4. Given the success of the creative industries in Australia, achievements that have largely taken place without the direct benefits of conventional R&D support (such as the R&D Tax Concession) – what is the case for government intervention?
5. What can Australia learn from other nations (such as the Scandinavian countries) in regard to stimulating the creative economy?

Conference and accommodation venue

Hotel Realm, 18 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600

Reservations: +61 2 6163 1888
Reception: +61 2 6163 1800
Fax: +61 2 6163 1801
Email: reservations@hotelrealm.com.au
Website: www.hotelrealm.com.au

Map of Hotel Realm location: www.hotelrealm.com.au/location.html

This workshop is being held jointly with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation.