There is an ongoing debate about whether science and R&D are components of the creative economy, and whether creative experimentation activities can be considered R&D. Recent empirical research has begun to analyse the interactions between research, science and the dynamics of the creative economy. In UNCTAD’s approach, creativity and knowledge are embedded in scientific creations in the same way as in artistic creations. In order to nurture the creative economy, it recommends that governments regularly assess the conditions for technology acquisition and upgrading and implement and review their science, technology and innovation policies, including information and communications technologies (ICTs) and their implications for development. Lately, the term Science 2.0 and Expansion of Science (S2ES) has been used with different meanings. It is usually related to Web 2.0-enabled scientific activities, but it has also been related to the expansion of science by means of new concepts and theories, or new modes of producing knowledge.11 UNESCO approached this matter in the context of increased cooperation between science and industry as well as between the public and private sectors in the promotion of scientific research for long-term goals, prior to the discourse about the creative economy, in the context of the World Conference on Science in 1999. As pointed out in the Declaration, the two sectors should work in close collaboration and in a complementary manner. However, from reviewing follow-up activities, it seems that scientists from the public and private sectors have not yet articulated this cooperation even if the private sector is a direct beneficiary of scientific innovation and science education and an increasing proportion of funds for creative-industry-related scientific research are financed by the private sector. Sport and its role in the creative economy are also debatable. Some classifications of creative industries include sport. In most cases, this is because ministries of culture are also in charge of sport matters. This is also justified by the fact that sport is an important source of revenue and gener-
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ates positive externalities in various other sectors of the economy. Another practical and methodological reason is that in national accounts, sport is aggregated with recreational services. From the conceptual viewpoint adopted by the present report, sport is associated more with training, rules and competition rather than with creativity. Therefore, sport is not included in the UNCTAD classification of “creative industries”.
1.1.7
The creative economy
Regardless of how the creative industries are defined and classified, there is no disagreement that they lay at the centre of what can be labelled in broader terms the “creative economy”. The term “creative economy” appeared in 2001 in John Howkins’ book about the relationship between creativity and economics.12 For Howkins, “creativity is not new and neither is economics, but what is new is the nature and the extent of the relationship between them and how they combine to create extraordinary value and wealth”. Howkins’ use of the term “creative economy” is broad, covering 15 creative industries extending from arts to the wider fields of science and technology. According to his estimates, in the year 2000, the creative economy was worth $2.2 trillion worldwide, and it was growing at 5 per cent annually. For Howkins, there are two kinds of creativity: the kind that relates to people’s fulfilment as individuals and the kind that generates a product. The first one is a universal characteristic of humanity and is found in all societies and cultures. The second is stronger in industrial societies, which put a higher value on novelty, on science and technological innovation, and on intellectual property rights.
1 Concept and context of the creative economy
– Creative services: architectural, advertising, cultural and recreational, creative research and development (R&D), digital and other related creative services.
There is no unique definition of the “creative economy”. It is a subjective concept that has been shaped throughout this decade. There is, however, growing convergence on a core group of creative industries and their overall interactions both in individual countries and at the international level. This report adopts the UNCTAD definition of the “creative economy”, which is summarized in the following box.13 For countries in the developing world, recognition of the development dimension of the creative industries and hence of
The World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, held in July 2010 in Orlando, Florida (United States of America), addressed issues related to the secondorder cybernetics and the systems approach. Howkins (2001). Reference made to the definition by the UNCTAD Creative Economy and Industries Programme, 2006. C R E AT I V E E C O N O M Y R E P O R T 2 0 1 0
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