Actually Existing Innovation

This project gathers together work that is combining conceptual and empirical research focused on actual cases, topics and fields which demonstrate links between creative industries and innovation. It is guided by several hypotheses: that these links have been largely ‘hidden’ from policy purview; that creative industry practices are a source of innovation that advances cultural, social and economic values; that creative industries and occupations are a prime mechanism for transmitting, embedding and popularising innovation in society at large; and thus creative industries play a greater role in national innovation systems than has previously been recognised.

Progress in 2010
The opening year of this work has been devoted to policy-oriented research, continued publication and focused policy submissions. In the process, several papers have already been published: Cunningham (with Jon Silver, CCI PhD student Elaine Zhao, and John McDonnell) has written on the disruptive innovation of online media on the film industry, presented to Screen Producers Association (SPAA) annual conference on its implications for Australia, and also presented and written a book chapter on creative cities discourses and issues around the relationship of production versus consumption.

Bakhshi’s recommendation for a new Innovation Fund to support research-led experiments by arts organisations in his paper Not Rocket Science: A Roadmap for Arts & Cultural R&D (written with Alan Freeman and Radhika Desai), was picked up by Arts Council, England which is now considering launching a £20 million Digital Innovation Fund this year. In his essay Beauty: Value Beyond Measure? published by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and the Arts & Humanities Research Council, Hasan made the case for the use of cultural economic tools in policy to explicitly measure the value of beauty in the built environment. This follows some applied research he published for NESTA earlier in the year with David Throsby on innovation in cultural organisations (the National Theatre and the Tate Liverpool). Following a presentation at the European Cultural and Creative Industries Summit in Brussels on June 22nd 2010, Hasan began work with Jason Potts on a paper exploring the implications of extreme uncertainty for the institutions of innovation policy.

Substantial policy submissions were generated by the team in 2010. The first concerned the relationship of market-failure and government-failure for national cultural policy (Cunningham and Potts) and the second and third concerned arguments for including arts and humanities within the government’s R&D tax incentive reforms (Jaaniste and Cunningham for CHASS).

A half-day symposium titled Arts, Culture and Innovation was held in October at QUT Creative Industries, with special guests David Throsby (Macquarie University), Nick Herd (Australia Council for the Arts) and Tim Kastelle (University of Queensland) that showcased relevant methods at the interface of cultural and business approaches to innovation.

Jaaniste and CCI research associate Julie Robson from Edith Cowan University co-authored the report "Growing Future Innovators" which was released in August 2010. The report examined the ways in which cultural institutions can connect schools with innovation, set within the context of contemporary developments in the expansion of innovation policy and trends around education for innovation. External funding came from the Foggarty Foundation, in partnership with the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA). Already, the report has been a significant catalyst in securing around $500,000 in ongoing funds from Rio Tinto and other support partners, for future stages of the Growing Future Innovators project.

Plans for 2011
Cunningham is preparing a book manuscript on ‘Hidden Innovation’. Contributions to major international volumes and handbooks are underway. ECR Jaaniste is being mentored in an intensive publication program. Potts and Bakhshi are working on a position paper on what innovation means in the new UK circumstances. Spin-off Linkage grants are being pursued covering topics such as cultural institutions and their support for artistic R&D; a model of specifically cultural innovation and commercialisation based on research into Australia’s recent cultural history demonstrating the ways in which fringe creatives come into the mainstream; and transmedia screen practice as creative innovation.

Outputs included:
• Cunningham S, Silver J & McDonnell J. (2010) ‘Rates of change: Online distribution as disruptive technology in the film industry’ Media International Australia, no 136 and Cunningham, S., Silver, J. & Zhao, E. (2010) ‘Chindia: Innovation in Online Film Distribution’, Global Media and Communication, vol 6.
• Bakhshi H, Radhika D & Freeman A. (2010) ‘Not rocket science: a roadmap for arts and cultural research and development’, published as a Mission Models Money provocation.
• Cunningham S, Potts J. ‘National cultural policy Submission’, submitted February 2010.
• Jaaniste L. (2010) ‘New tax incentives for business R&D: will HASS get a fair go?’, CHASS newsletter, 27 April 2010, http://www.chass.org.au/articles/ART20100427LJ.php and research assistance provided to submitting partner, CHASS (Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences), ‘Supporting R&D in Australian business’, submitted April 2010.