Asia’s Creative Economies
28 May 2008 by oliver
As I travel around Asia the term “Creative Economy” is one that comes up more and more frequently, it is a concept that has been around for a while but only recently seems to have earned a place in discussions around information and communication technology here in the region.
The concept of the Creative Economy is a straight forward enough one, the Wikipedia article I have linked above describes the concept as;
The phrase Creative Industries (or sometimes Creative Economy) refers to a set of interlocking industry sectors, and are often cited as being a growing part of the global economy. The creative industries are often defined as those that focus on creating and exploiting intellectual property products; such as Music, books, film, and games, or providing business-to-business creative services such as Advertising, Public Relations and Direct Marketing.
This definition is a very western one and clearly applies well to industry sectors you would expect to find a clear focus around in Europe and North America. In conventional terms it is, of course, also applicable to Asia but when I hear it used here there is also a more relevant local meaning.
One of the challenges that many of the emergent economies appear to share at the moment is around finding ways to protect and capitalize on their traditional industries, including handicrafts, artistry, performance and so on. Many of these traditional industries can be quickly copied and mass produced elsewhere, an ongoing risk for local businesses and livelihoods.
As a result discussions often revolve around how countries in the region might protect both the ownership and integrity of these traditional industries while at the same time planning for the future. In many cases this involves looking at the policy that is needed to help these traditional industries thrive and grow, and the legal framework that has evolve to protect them.
We are left with the question “What has all this got to do with Information and Communication Technology?”
An interesting point of evolution. A common theme appears to be that the work that many countries are undertaking today to build their Creative Economies is being done with the goal of laying the foundations for the development of new industries including ICT.
A strong understanding of the countries business structures, protection of intellectual property, mentorship and solid investment frameworks all helping protect the existing industries that are important today, and prepare countries for the industries that they want to build for tomorrow.
The principal here is pretty straight forward, beginning with a framework that supports the growth of existing industries in the region makes a lot more sense than trying to create a framework for an industrial sector, such as ICT, that represents future as apposed to current growth. At the same time legal and policy frameworks being built today are already taking future needs into account and preparing countries for the exciting future ahead…