Applications are now open for the OII Summer Doctoral Programme 2009, to be hosted this year by CCI and the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia.

The programme aims to stretch the thinking of all students on a range of issues, to provide valuable advice and support for students' thesis research, and to establish a peer network of excellent young researchers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the thematic focus this year will be on 'Creativity, Innovation and the Internet': our partners on the SDP since 2003, CCI and the Creative Industries Faculty are at the forefront of pioneering international research initiatives in creative industries policy, applied creative industries research, digital media design, and the creative and performing arts.

UQP has now made available to CCI readers the first chapter of Stuart Cunningham's recently published book In the Vernacular. The book brings together important works, written over a twenty-year period by one of Australia's leading scholars of media, culture and policy. In this chapter Stuart takes an historical perspective on Australian cinema, looking the "decades of survival" from 1930–70.

A paper by Professor Stuart Cunningham, President of the Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, highlighting the issues to be discussed during HASS in the Capital, is now available from the CHASS website. At the meeting on 3 September, speakers and member breakout groups will respond to the paper’s topics and raise new issues they see as relevant to the role and future of CHASS. The outcomes of the event will establish the foundations to guide CHASS into its next phase of development.

Innovation: management, policy and practice is the international journal for innovation research, commercialization, policy analysis and best practice. The forthcoming issue on 'Innovation policy in the creative Industries' is being guest edited by CCI's Jason Potts based at the School of Economics, The University of Queensland.

A new report, Between a hard rock and a soft space: design, creative practice and innovation, argues that Australian innovation can be enhanced by bringing design into the mainstream of policy and industry thinking. It calls for the formation of a National Council for Design and Creative Practice, as a body where industry, research and government can work together to contribute to innovation policy.

A book series is being negotiated with the University of Queensland Press. ‘Creative Culture + Innovation Economy’, co-edited by Stuart Cunningham and John Hartley, will publish works by a variety of authors which will advance the Centre’s broad agenda.

A freelance journalist was contracted to assist the Centre; her work will begin to produce results in 2008.

Partly in synergy with his role as President of the Council for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Stuart Cunningham continued to publish articles on the creative industries and innovation in journals and the press. Apart from media coverage, CCI principals made a number of submissions to inquiries. Trevor Barr’s ‘Re-Thinking Universal Service Obligation (USO) Policy’ submission went to the Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation (USO) Review in October, 2007.