Creative industries and the innovation agenda

1
Creative industries and the innovation agenda

• Stuart Cunningham
• Director
• Creative Industries Research and Applications
  Centre (CIRAC)
• Queensland University of Technology

2
Structure of presentation

• Whats wrong with innovation and RD agendas?
• Why should the creative/content industries be
  included in these agendas?
• Evolving innovation and RD agendas

3

• the creative/content industries dont figure as a
  rule in RD and innovation strategies
• Australian examples
• The chance for change (2000)
• Backing Australias ability (2001)
• Knowledge Nation (2001)
• Queenslands R D strategy (2002-3)
• The National Research Priorities (2002-3)

4
Why should the creative/content industries be
included in these agendas?

• High growth sectors
• Models for new economy practice
• The US economy 25 derived from the creative
  disciplines and 15 derived from the new sciences
• OECD economies 60-70 consumption-based
• Australian indicators

5
The RD we need

• Research to understand how complex systems
  involving entertainment, information, education,
  technological literacy, integrated marketing,
  lifestyle and aspirational psychographics and
  cultural capital interrelate in a rapidly
  changing social, cultural, economic environment

6

• Development trialing and prototyping supported
  by test beds and infrastructure provision in
  RD-style laboratories in the context of ever
  shortening innovation cycles and greater
  competition in rapidly expanding global markets

7
Evolving innovation and RD agendas

• Generations of innovation policies
• Canada
• New Zealand
• Taiwan
• US
• Europe/UK
• Australia

8
A breakthrough National Research Priorities

• Developing national research priorities an
  issues paper (DEST 2002)
• Surprise Frontier Technologies for Building and
  Transforming Australian Industries
• Research is needed to exploit the huge potential
  in the digital media industry
• creative applications for digital technologies
  (examples include e-finance, multi-media, content
  generation and imaging)

9
Focus on Creative Industries (FOCI)

• "Whilst FOCI welcomes the recognition of the
  strong economic contribution made by the creative
  industries in terms of wealth creation and
  employment, we would also keenly stress that this
  sector is very different from traditional
  industries. They deal in value and values, signs
  and symbols they are multi-skilled and fluid
  they move between niches and create hybrids they
  are multi-national and they thrive on the margins
  of economic activity they mix up making money
  and making meaning. The challenge of the creative
  industries is the challenge of a new form of
  economic understanding - they are not 'catching
  up' with serious, mainstream industries, they are
  setting the templates which these industries will
  follow. "