create toolkit november 2010

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Creative Cluster Developmentthrough ICT Innovation

CReATE TOOLKITA STEP BY STEP GUIDE


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www.lets-create.eu

Authors

David Furmage with contributions from Bjrn Sautter, Martina

Groeschel, Ludovic Nol, Michela Pollone, and other members

of the CReATE Project team.

November 2010

CReATE Creating a Joint Research Agenda for Promoting

ICT-Innovations in Creative Industr ies across Europe.

EU Project, FP7-Regions-2007-1

Visit www.lets-create.eu for par tner details, downloadable

resources and links to relevant networks.

The project CReATE has been funded with support

from the European Commission.

This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the

Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may

be made of the information contained therein.


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Chapter Page

Executive Summary

Objectives, Audiences & Outcomes

the benefits to your region

The CReATE Process

five stages unpacked

Stock-taking - stage 1

develop a regional knowledge base

Forward-looking - stage 2

Identify regional priorities

Outward-Looking stage 3

Develop a joint research agenda

Set up the mechanism to bring partners together

Action-taking stage 4

Setting Your Roadmap

Monitoring & Evaluation stage 5

Reviewing Progress & Implementing Lessons Learnt

Conclusions

References

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4

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7

13

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37

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43

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Contents


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Chapter 1Executive Summary

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The creative industries are a key sector in the Europe

of tomorrow. They are developing and evolving

rapidly. A crucial driving force for this development

is ICT technologies. Using innovative IT solutionsin growing areas of the creative sector such as

advertising, digital media, games and interactive design

- opens up competitive advantages for research,

development and business.

The Creative Industries are recognised as being of

national significance in many countries. They have

the potential to bring strong growth in jobs and

economic wealth to a region.

Creative Industries are already ranked 4th in the

European Union for gross domestic product contribution

- 626bn in 2007. Creative Industr ies employment

growth rate was double that of the general economy inrecent years. They are forecast to continue growing at

an average of 10% annually.1

In its EU 2020 proposal for the Council [March 2010],

the European Commission highlights the importance

of creativity and knowledge creation for sustained and

sustainable growth.2

growth UnionEuropeancreativity

Knowledgesustainedsustainable

Euro Economy4thIndustries

employment

creationdomestic

annuallygross

CreativeknowledgeproductBillionranked

tag cloud: Key objectives and areas of interest for CReATE

1 source: EFP Brief No 171 www.foresight-platform.eu/foresight-briefs/


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At the moment, European research programmes and

support schemes do not ideally meet the requirements

of Creative Industr ies. As a consequence, Europe is in

danger of not turning its enormous creative potential

into growth and prosperity.

That is why the European Commission assigned the

CReATE consortium to support the process of tackling

this issue back in 2008. The result is the CReATE Joint

Research Agenda. This is enabling new par tnerships to

be forged between businesses and research institutes,

both within regions and across Europe.

Whilst CReATE is primarily focussed on Creative

Industries, the approach is also applicable to other

research driven sectors, such as e-health, energy and

the environment - where value can be derived through

the development of intellectual property that can be

commercialised.

The CReATE Toolkit is a step-by-step guide enabling

policy-makers and other stakeholders to deliver

benefits for businesses and research institutes. CReATE

will help regions:

1. Understand & develop the true economic potential

of each regions creative cluster leading to a clear

Regional Research Agenda Action Plan.

2. Bring the benefits of the Joint Research Agenda

for ICT Innovations in Creative Industries to each

region3. This includes the setting up of a pan-European

platform to connect creative industries with IT experts

and research institutions.

3. Increase the collaboration between businesses,

government and research institutions within each

region.

4. Improve the capabilities of SMEs (small & mediumenterprises) from the creative sector.

5. Raise the profile and importance of each regions

creative industries nationally, trans-nationally and

internationally.

A key aspect of CReATE has been to consider global

trends within the digital and creative space. This

global perspective has been combined with a regional

stock-taking, forward-looking and outward-looking

process. This process has enabled participating regions

to identify their core strengths and opportunities

leading to their own Regional Research Agenda Action

Plans.

3 Joint Research Agenda for ICT Innovations in Creative Industries can be found at www.lets-create.eu/downloads.html

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A common view about key trends has emerged. The Joint

Research Agenda explains these in detail. The five key areas

that have been identified include:

1. Visual & Interactive Experiences

Including virtual environments, 3D, real-time visualization,

high-resolution displays, haptic computing and user-friendly

environments & displays.

2. Tools of Productivity and Intelligent Automation

Including semantic software for automatic recognition,

assembling & indexing, interactive artificial intelligence and

enhanced procedural generation tools for digital content &

prototyping.

3. Digital Distribution

Including encryption, data compression & decompression, new

business models and cross platform distribution.

4. Mobility & InteroperabilityIncluding data streaming systems, augmented reality solutions,

web security for on-line data exchange, interoperability of

mobile and other devices and location based/personalised

mobile services.

5. User-producer Interaction in Development

Including collaborative production & user-generated content,

web technology for on-line collaboration and interactive

testing environments.

Regions who participate in the CReATE process can expect

outcomes that include:

1. A greater level of consensus, common vision and purpose

amongst regional stakeholders throughout the creative and

digital sectors.

2. Agreement over regional research agendas and better

collaboration between businesses & research institutes.

3. An increase in applied innovation and the commercialisation

of products and services.

4. An increase in cooperation between countries over shared

research priorities, resulting in more trans-regional working on

a wide range of innovative and commercial projects.

Creative & Digital Industries have the potential to make a

huge difference to many regions. Opportunities for growth

and collaboration are many, but to really benefit a regionneeds to develop proactive policies that enable their creative

cluster to grow and connect to other stakeholders and

funding opportunities, both within their region, nation and

across Europe.

It is therefore desirable to make an adjustment in regional

policies and initiatives - to encourage businesses to take more

risks in innovation and research institutes to become more

commercially minded in their partnerships.

The CReATE Process delivers a set of tools to implement

change - bringing the benefits of growing your creative cluster

to your businesses, research institutes and the wider economy.

In summary, the CReATE team would encourage you to get

your region involved to map your regions strengths

connect your stakeholders and strengthen your cluster join

up with others in your country and across Europe go for it!

The CReATE Project Team

2010

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Chapter 2Objectives, Audiences & OutcomesThe benefits to your region

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The CReATE Toolkit is targeted at the following stakeholder groups:

Public Sector Decision-makers, e.g., Regional Development Agencies.

Businesses who are looking to innovate and develop new products, services & processes.

Research & Technology organisations, e.g., ICT Research Institutes, looking for private par tners.

Providers of funding, financing agencies and venture capital firms.

Todays knowledge driven economy is dependent for its prosperity on the continuing success of a wide range of

industrial and research driven clusters.

The Creative Industries are ranked as the 4th top sector in Europe for contribution to GDP ( 626Bn in 2007). As such, the

on-going development of this sector will yield huge benefits to regions and countries right across Europe. Creative Industries

employment growth rate was double that of the general economy in recent years. They are forecast to continue growing at an

average of 10% annually.4

clusters

digitalcreative

IT

pan-european

stra

tegic

busine

ss

future

industries

su

pport

collaborationpriorities

innovative

researchco

mpetitive

CReA

TE

objectives

institut

es

tag cloud: Objectives and Aims of CReATE


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Creative Cluster Highlightsfrom the founding CReATE Regions

Baden-Wrttemberg - South West Germany

Cluster strengths in ICT, Software, Games, interactive design & publishing. Research strengths in Visualization

& Simulation Technologies. Highly innovative region based on number of patent applications. High density of

education and research institutes.

AgentFramework Hank Nikita, Baden-Wrttemberg Film Academy

VR&MMP - Virtual Reality & Multi Media Park, Piemonte

Piemonte - North West ItalyVirtual Reality & Multi Media Park (VR&MMP). Well supported Regional Innovation Poles (clusters) for Digital Creativity, Multimedia &

ICT. Active Animation Cluster. Pilot region for DTT - Digital Terrestrial Television. Film commission activity and a wide range of educational

opportunities.

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Rhone-Alps South West France

Strengths in film, games and fashion. Active Clusters include Imaginove (Content), Edit

(Software), Minalogic (Nanotech) and Cit du Design (design). Public sector support in IT/

media activities since the 1990s. Strong creative heritage as Rhne-Alpes is the birthplace of the

cinema with the Lumire Brothers.

Studios Lumiere - Rhone-Alps

West Midlands - England, UK

Clusters in Games, Serious Games, Social Media and ICT. Birmingham is a digital hub with 17,000 creatives. Extensive higher education

offer, research in Human Interface technologies, Serious Games Institute and Digital Lab. Screen Agency leads on a 5m digital media

innovation fund.

More about the regions can be found at www.lets-create.eu/downloads.html

Bullring at the heart of Birmingham, West Midlands UK

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The key objectives of CReATE include:

Identifying potential priorities for future research in

supporting competitive creative industries.

Supporting strategic collaboration of innovative

creative industry clusters in Europe.

Providing assistance and training measures for

small and medium-sized companies in research and

technology transfer.

Establishing a pan-European platform to connect

the creative industries with IT experts and research

institutions.5

Focusing Creative Clusters

CReATE uses a six-segment definition of the creative industries. Many other

definitions exist, but this one was found to have the greatest relevance to

participating regions.

The CReATE process follows a unique multi-level, multi-

actor and multi-disciplinary approach:

Multilevel because it makes an impact on regional

development by combining trans-regional consortia,

global trends & regional cluster analyses with policy &

funding alignment. Thus it contributes to the optimization

of regional, national and European funding with private

investments.

Multi-actor because it is a dialogue oriented approach.

Regional Stakeholders from science, industry & public

administration work together developing regional priorities.

Multi-disciplinary because the CReATE approach

brings together different disciplines like ICT and Creative

Industries in ways that help to stimulate innovative ideas

and new solutions.

Such a multi-level, multi-actor and multi-disciplinary

approach is needed to ensure longer-term competitiveness

of research-driven clusters in a globalizing knowledge

economy. Scarce public resources and a complex

environment make it desirable that multiple stakeholders

join forces to achieve their goals.

The underlying methodological model of CReATE takes

the multi-level approach and synthesiss together global

trends with regional strengths.

music | radio | audio production

6 Segment

Definition

of Creative

Industries6

5 More information can be found at www.lets- create.eu

6 This 6-segment definition of the creative industries was developed in Queensland, Australia

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The model combines three streams of data:

1. Analysis of regional ICT Research and Creative Industries

strengths and weaknesses.

2. Identification of relevant global trends and drivers.

3. Regional and global data is pooled to enable meaningfuldebate at stakeholder workshops about future application

areas, e.g., new products, business models, etc., The

results of the debate and the regional SWOT analysis are

combined to define the regional research priorities for

applied research. This will become the Regional Research

Agenda Action Plan.

Regions who participate in the CReATE process can

expect the following outcomes:

A greater level of consensus, common vision and

purpose amongst regional stakeholders throughout the

creative and digital sector.

Agreement over regional research agendas and better


An increase in applied innovation and the

commercialisation of products and services.

An increase in cooperation between countries over

shared research priorities. Thus resulting in more trans-

regional working on a wide range of innovative and

commercial projects.

An improvement in the range of regional policies and

initiatives (budgets willing); encouraging businesses to

take more risks in innovation and research institutes

to become more commercially minded in their

partnerships.

ICTResearch

Areas

CreativeIndustries

Regional Priorities forApplied Research

ApplicationAreas

Global Trends

chart: CReATE Model for

Analyzing Regional Priorities for

Applied Research

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Chapter 3The CReATE ProcessFive Stages Unpacked

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The CReATE process has five stages:

Stage 1: Stock-taking Building the Regional Knowledge base.

Stage 2: Forward-looking Gathered data, stakeholders and

foresighting techniques are used in combination to agree

strengths & opportunities across the regions Creative &

Digital Cluster and to define regional research priorities.

Stage 3: Outward-looking - Developing a trans-regional joint

research agenda and finding partners & projects.

Stage 4: Action-taking Launching a Regional Research Agenda

Action Plan, Start project collaborations, create stakeholder

communications and influence policy.

Stage 5: Monitoring & Evaluation Monitoring during the

project and a full evaluation afterwards helps ensure the best

outcomes.

Stage 1: Stock-taking

collect regional data

desk research, reports,stakeholder interviews,

ICT Research

results

draft SWOTInnovation AuditCluster Map

Stage 2: Forward-looking

collect global data

emerging technologies,global trends & drivers,

ICT research

regionalstakeholderworkshops1 & 2

results

RegionalResearchPrioritiesCluster Map

STEEPVSWOT

Stage 3: Outward-looking

make connections

pull together findingsEuropean prioritiesdecide cluster prioritiesexplore potentialprojects &collaborations

results

Develop ProjectsJoint Research Agenda

Agree RegionalResearch Action Plan

Policy proposalsStudy Visits

Stage 4: Action-taking

InfluenceRegional Policy &Funding Initiatives

National & EuropeanPolicy & Funding

launchRegional ResearchAgenda Action PlanIncreased Cluster ProfileStakeholder Groups

Stage 5: Evaluation

collect feedback / data

monitor during projectevaluate afterwards

results

improveproject

lessons learntfor next cycle

start

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Building the Creative Cluster in your region requires you to use and understand a set of Strategic Policy Intelligence

(SPI) tools.These tools are used to provide decision-makers with comprehensive, objective, unbiased and forward-

looking information. Areas covered by SPI include; global trends, opportunities & threats, drivers of change, long-

term developments, success factors, advantages and disadvantages compared to competitors.

Strategic Intelligence can be defined as:

the set of actions to search, process, diffuse and protect information in order to make it available to the right

person at the right time in order to make the right decision. 7

A number of CReATE partners have considerable experience in using SPI tools and their application to research

driven clusters. Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum, for example, has produced a detailed guide to SPI - Enabling better

RDTI Policymaking in Europes regions Strategic Policy Intelligence Tools A Guide.8

Benefits of Using Strategic PolicyIntelligence

The benefits of SPI include:

Participation - SPI encourages the participation of all stakeholders involved in

decision-making.

Evidence-base - SPI makes decision-making more objective.

Mediation & Alignment - SPI generates mutual learning and facilitates consensus-

building.

Decision Support - SPI not only facilitates decision-making but also facilitates the

implementation of decisions.

7IPTS website looking at European Foresight tools. http://foresight.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

8 Enabling better RDTI Policymaking in Europes regions Strategic Policy Intelligence Tools A Guide www.steinbeis-europa.de/478.html

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CReATE uses a sub-set of the total range of SPI tools that are available. A good understanding of SPI is

important to those facilitating the process for the region.

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Chapter 4Stock-taking stage 1

Develop regional knowledge base

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Stock-taking is used to build the Regional Knowledge

Base. This will become the basis of subsequent

discussions and strategic thinking. It includes gathering

data about the region through researching existing

reports, creating surveys, stakeholder interviews,

compiling an Innovation Audit and an initial SWOT

Analysis [strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and

threats].

Stock-taking forms a sound basis for analyzing the state

of play in the region regarding the regional Creative

Industries (CI) and ICT research potential. It also

identifies regional fields of aspiration. The results of this

stage are a comprehensive set of data and information

on CI and ICT innovations. The quality of this data - and

thus the success of the entire stage - is dependent on

asking the right questions.

Stage 1: Stock-taking

collect regional data

desk research, reports,stakeholder interviews,ICT Research

results

draft SWOTInnovation AuditCluster Map

chart: Stage 1 Stock-taking

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The stock-taking phase includes an Innovation Audit. This is a

method of investigation which evaluates the technological

capacity and technology needs of the region. The audit is

based on a variety of research methods; using databases,

surveys, interviews and workshops. This audit will build thebasis for the identification of regional and trans-regional

research priorities.

A full innovation audit is only required in regions which

are strongly technology driven. Mostly it is sufficient to

mobilise a critical mass of principal stakeholders in business,

academia and government based on the expert panel

discussed later. To ensure results are as accurate as possiblethese experts should have a good understanding between

them of all Digital & IT aspects of the region.

Description/Mapping of Key Stakeholders/competences in

ICT Research & Creative Industries

Identify Key players and Stakeholders

Quantify Overview of Region [turned into cluster map]

Compile key Competences and interrelations

Identify regional Creative Industry Company Needs

Identify fields of excellence

Identify fields of aspiration

Identify future prospects and technologies

Identify regional policies and support measures

Identify regional ICT-RTDI

[Research, Technological Development & Innovation] Capacities

Identify fields of excellence

Identify fields of aspiration

Identify future prospects and technologies

Identify regional policies and support measures

Identify relevant Policies already supporting region/sector

Identify regional related Policies already supporting region/sector

Identify national related Policies already supporting region/sectorIdentify trans-national related Policies already supporting region/sector

Derive Regional Strengths/Weaknesses

By building on Analysis so far

By correlating needs, capacities and initiatives

Derive Regional Opportunities/Threats from Global ICT Trends

Correlate analysis and information derived so far

Correlate views of stakeholders

Include views of external experts

Summarize in a SWOT Matrix

Information to find out in the stock-taking phase

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This early phase of the stock-taking stage is focused on

gathering information and learning or confirming

who the key players and stakeholders are in the region,

and where the strengths and opportunities lie. The next

phase involves preparing information in a format that

can be easily understood and circulated to workshop

participants in stage 2.

Benefits of Innovation Audits

for public policy-makers:

1. Identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the regional innovation system and an insight into the drivers

of technological and economic development.

2. Assessment of the effectiveness of existing Research, Technical Development & Innovation Policies and

empirical evidence to guide the formulation of new RTDI (Research, Technological Development & Innovation)

policies and goals.

for firms & research organizations:

1. The identification of sources of knowledge and support, and of potential par tners and markets.

2. Information about best practice in incubation strategies to support the successful development of new

products/processes and technology transfer to enterprise.

3. Greater visibility of existing exper tise and capabilities.

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Most people are familiar with the SWOT Analysis Matrix strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Atthis stage it is only possible to complete the internal factors - strengths and weaknesses - with any degree of

robustness. The first regional workshop, during stage 2, is the forum to fine tune the SWOT and get it validated by

the group.

Preparing for Workshop 1

The following needs to be done before the workshop starts:

1. A provisional SWOT Analysis should be prepared.

SWOT ANALYSIS - stock-taking stage

strengths weaknesses

threatsopportunities

internalfactorscompleted

externalfactors roughideas only

char t: Example SWOT Template partially completed

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to be enhanced later


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2. A Cluster Map - showing the relationship of key stakeholders and categories of stakeholders in the region -

should be prepared. There is no one format to follow - as the examples below illustrate. Baden Wrttemberg

(Germany) have used a detailed flow-chart approach whilst West Midlands (UK) have chosen a simpler model to

represent their creative cluster.

ICT Technologies

Simulation,Visualisation,

Interaction and MixedRealities

Embedded Systems Software Technologies Communications

networks

Intergrated Micro-/NanoSystems

Learning Systems

Technologies Originators

Virtual Environments / 3D Data processing & Interpretation/ Exploration

Music Recording Web Application Engineering/ Web 2.0 Technologies

Interactive Systems / Design Film (Post-) Production Technologies Mobil Devices

Content Originators

Film/TV/Radio Producers

Game Developers

Designers / Achitects

Animated Content Producers

Multimedia Producers

Authors / Journalists

Musicians

IPR Commercialiser

Multimedia Distributors

Game Distributors

Book Publishers

TV / Radio Channels

Film Distributors

Newspapers / Magazines

Record Labels

Advertsing Agencies

Distribution Channels

Retail Shops

Libraries / Museums

TV / Radio Broadcasts

Cinemas

Internet

Advertising Media

Cultural Sector Universities

Industrial R&D

Upgrading & Innovative Bodies

Banks & Financiers Political Agencies

Regional Competence Centres

Other Cluster Partners

Legend Reletive Strength Broadly on Par Relative Weakness

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chart: Example Cluster Map, Baden Wrttemberg (source for map layout: Scottish Enterprise)


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Universities Creative and

ICT SMEs

Public Sector

Support

Agencies

Corporate

Technology

Partners

Birmingham

Warwick

Wolverhampton

Birmingham City

Coventry

Staffordshire

Aston

BT

Oracle

Fujitsu

Codemasters

Microsoft

Sun Microsystems

chart: Example Cluster Map, West Midlands, UK

Whatever format is chosen for the cluster map, the important thing is that it does visually represent the relationship in

the region between stakeholders.

3. A shor t stimulating presentation should be prepared for the workshops on Creative, Digital and ICT trends

and drivers of possible future developments.

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4. Cards should be prepared listing trends & drivers for the STEEPV framework. These will facilitate discussions, as it is

best to put all the factors that you are aware of on the table before the workshop.

STEEPV is future oriented; it considers possible factors of change and developments in a broader thematic context. It

also allows for highlighting cross-impacts often overlooked by other techniques.

The six categories to consider in a STEEPV Analysis

are:

1. Societal: e.g., health consciousness, population

growth rate, age distr ibution, career attitudes, gender

roles, quality of life, attitudes to consumption, lifestyle,

etc.

2. Technological/ Scientific: e.g., government spending

on R&D, the rate of technological change, impacts

of new technologies (in par ticular ICT), intellectual

property rights protection, etc.

3. Economic: e.g., economic growth, interest rates,

exchange rates, inflation rate, new markets or loss

(shrinking) of markets, unemployment, wage rates, etc.

4. Environmental/ Ecological: ecology is considered

a broad concept, including typically environmentalfactors (e.g. climate change, natural disasters and

alternative energy sources), as well as factors

influencing the general relation between an

organization / region and its environment.

5. Political: e.g., changes in the regulatory environment

(tax policies, regional policies, employment laws and

environmental regulations), trade restr ictions and

tariffs, political (in)stability and acceptability, wars,

political unions, etc.

6. Values: e.g., changes of attitudes to family, common

culture, ethics, attitudes such as materialism or altruism,

etc.

To be effective, the STEEPV analysis should not only

identify the key factors but also rank the outcomes of

these factors by:

1. The likelihood of the most relevant effects expected

to materialize.

2. The impor tance/needs of these factors for ICT-

research & innovation.

STEEPV Framework

perspectives

societal

technological

economic

environmental

political

values

scientific

ecological

trends and drivers

chart: STEEPV Analysis Framework

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Chapter 5Forward-looking stage 2

Identify Regional Priorities


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The forward-looking stage of CReATE is based around

two stakeholder workshops a few weeks apar t. To be

effective the workshops should embrace a good mix of

experts, business and policy people, it is useful to have at

least 15 people present in each session.

The aim is to identify the most promising trends & drivers

and thus agree future application areas (e.g. new products,

business models, etc.), which will be important to society

and present strong opportunities for the regions creative& digital industries and research institutions.

The regional research priorities should be aligned with

all the information, debate and analysis gathered so far

taking into account capabilities, capacities and aspirations.

The regional priorities that have been identified can be fed

into the trans-regional joint research agenda. This can only

remain effective if it is regularly updated with new findingsand priorities from participating regions.

The Joint Research Agenda leads to a key goal of the

project - to enable the setting up of a wide range of active

commercial and/or research partnerships both within and

between regions.

Benefits from the Forward-looking stage revolve around

the correct implementation of a Foresight Process. In the

face of complexities and high uncertainties it is helpful

to purposely solicit diverging and individualist viewpoints,

broadening debate. This enables us to make foresightusefully provocative!

These workshops should ideally be designed and

supported by foresight consultants, to ensure adequate

and comparable results. But what is foresight?

Stage 2: Forward-looking

collect global data

emerging technologies,global trends & drivers,ICT research

regional

stakeholderworkshops1 & 2

results

Regional

ResearchPrioritiesCluster Map

STEEPVSWOT

chart: Stage 2 Forward-looking

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Foresight is the process involved in systematically attempting to look

into the longer-term future of science, technology, the economy and

society, with the aim of identifying the areas of strategic research and the

emerging generic technologies likely to yield the greatest economic and

social benefits.9

The goal (of foresight) is not to predict the future but to understand how

the future is shaped and on that basis to explore a range of possible

futures with a view to selecting one that is desirable and attainable.10

The benefits of using

Foresight include:Exploring possible futures enables major challenges to be

identified and alternative ways forward considered. Foresight

allows stakeholders to reach a consensus on desirable visions

and goals for the future.

Involvement of key stakeholders can deepen linkages

between them and lead to a better mutual understanding

between science and other parts of society.

Improved policy design and implementation in all policy

fields and in the design of innovation-friendly regulations.

The regional workshops are underpinned by the use of foresight

techniques but also grounded in the reality of the region by using an

expert panel. This panel should be made up of an interdisciplinary

group of policy-makers, entrepreneurs, academic researchers and

venture capitalists. This ensures that existing strategic documents,

research reports, outputs of scientific analysis, and other current

information are fully taken into account.

The expert panel together with other participants - should have

wide-ranging knowledge and experience in various fields such as

technology, economic, social and political sciences. A variety ofbusinesses from the Creative and IT sectors should also be involved.

9 source: Ben Martin, SPRU

10 source: Blueprints for Foresight Actions in the Regions http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/pdf/blueprint-upgrade_en.pdf

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1st Stakeholder Workshop

At the first regional stakeholder workshop the data

accumulated so far is shared and discussed. Participants

should add additional factors that may impact current and

possible future development of the creative industries

cluster. The session can review the cluster map, improve

and validate the SWOT and agree a STEEPV analysis. It

should do some Scenario building within the workshop

sessions to identify future application areas and to

consider a wide range of alternative futures both from

an opportunities and a threats perspective.

Trends and dr ivers, which have already been identified in

advance, are brought into the discussion by the workshop

moderator and serve as a valuable stimulus for the

workshop.

The session should give a good basis for an initial draft

of the Regional Research Priorities Action Plan. This plan

will begin to define research priorities for the sector

as well as reviewing regional initiatives, which can help

collaboration and funding.

Innovations in Running the Workshops

Some regions used innovative ways to run CReATE Workshops. West Midlands in the UK, for

example, ran the session live into Second Life, a virtual 3D environment. This broadened the

range of participants for the sessions.

Participants in the West Midlands, UK, could join the CReATE workshop sessions vir tually.

They were hosted by the Serious Games Institute.

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To help new regions run the CReATE process

the founding partners have pulled together their

experiences:

It was important to identify common challenges andopportunities, ensuring there was a collective awareness

of them and possible solutions.

Using the initial SWOT Analysis as the basis for discussion,

enabled a more refined SWOT to be developed for later

discussions.

It was important to share a common aspiration for future

products, services, business models and projects.

It was important to share commitments, and then

join forces as a group to set goals to achieve those

commitments.

It was important to be very specific in compiling a list of

the competences and skills of regional organisations and

stakeholders.

The creative atmosphere of the workshops opened up

many productive conversations, especially for networking

opportunities between the ICT industry and creative

stakeholders.

During the regional stakeholder workshops, we

pinpointed some different business cultures, languages

and mindsets among ICT and Creative Industries

representatives. Course facilitators need to be aware of

these different mindsets to maximize the effectiveness ofthe workshops.

Facilitators should ensure that a sufficiently broad view of

global and European wide trends is made available to the

group. In the regional CReATE process, the introduction

of the trans-regional perspective enriched the discussions

with external impulses, and thus facilitated out-of-

the- box thinking, leading to new ideas about promising

business opportunities.

Furthermore, the identification of mutual synergies

between the CReATE regions prepared the ground for

trans-regional collaboration and strategic alliances.

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Preparing for Workshop 2

Its a good idea if the second workshop takes place within a month of the first. It is also desirable if a small

working group can be tasked to compile the results of the first workshop and prepare for the second. This

encourages stakeholder buy-in to the whole process and to the decisions that have been made so far by thegroup.

The working group should finalise the SWOT completing the external factors opportunities and threats.

They should also finalise the STEEPV although this may change again in the 2nd workshop.

The group should then begin to define strategic research priorities. These can be considered broadly at first,

for example in flow-chart terms:

SWOT ANALYSIS - stock-taking stage

strengths weaknesses

threatsopportunities

internal

factorscompleted

externalfactorscompleted

workshops completed SWOT

global trends anddrivers - most

relevent expected

effects - STEEPV

regional needs and

capacities. opportunities

and threats - SWOT

strategic

research

areas

char t: Example SWOT Analysis now completed by workshop groups

30

chart: flow chart for refining workshop results into outcomes


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2nd Stakeholder Workshop

In the second workshop, the stakeholders do a

sense check on the work so far. Their task then is

to refine the Regional Research Priorities Action

Plan and the suggested Policy Changes. These

deliberations should take into account:

Future market perspectives

Future business models (products, services)

Future innovation and value creation processes

Future requirements with regard to human

resources (qualifications, skills etc.)

Future other key factors, e.g., change of

government, new funding prior ities.

Based on this assessment, the identified research

priority areas are ranked with reference to the

previous SWOT and STEEPV analyses, taking into

account:

The relevance for the identified regional needs,

capacities, policies and funding.

The relevance for regional ICT-R&D [Research

& Development]

The specific time-horizon for implementation.

This workshop is effectively the agenda setting

moment, producing sufficient detail and consensusto prepare a concrete Regional Research Priorities

Action Plan and Policy Proposals.

They can then be refined in more detail using a grid such as this one:

This grid will be used to prime discussions during workshop 2.

The working group should also present the suggested funding and policy initiatives that will help cluster

development become a success.

The quality of this groups work strongly affects the success of the structured debate and outcomes fromthe second stakeholder workshop.

research

priority

areas

application

areas

relation to

global ICT

trends

relation to

regional

CI needs

relation to

regional

ICT-RTDI11

capacities

relation to

regional

policies

need for

trans-

regional

partners

......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........

......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .........

11 ICT-RTDI = ICT Research, Technology, Development and Innovation capacities

31

chart: Example Layout of Information for detailing Regional Research Priority Areas


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CReATE Case studycoming out of CReATE

Workshops

The CReATE expert workshops 2009 in Baden-

Wrttemberg demonstrate how targeted and

successful integration of creativity and ICT know-

how can lead to new collaborations. The Institute of

Animation, Visual Effects & Digital Postproduction in

Ludwigsburg and Tridelity Display Solutions GmbH

AG combined and tested the Filmakademie Agent

Framework with autostereoscopic 3D Displays.

The Agent Framework is a development platform

for character-centric application prototypes beyond

film and video games. Based on the Filmakademies

open source application framework Frapper it

allows for implementation of complex technologies

like computer vision, synthetic speech and artificial

intelligence all within a user-friendly authoring

environment.

After a period of development the engineers of

Filmakademie presented a real-time solution that

allowed the display of interactive and dynamic

animated 3D content that could interact with visitors.

The interactive booth was received extremely

positively by visitors to FMX - showcasing a novel

interface for information through natural voiceand face to face communication with a computer

generated character.

The collaboration that star ted at the CReATE

workshops has opened up a great opportunity for the

organisations involved, and for the region of Baden-

Wrttemberg. Collaboration continues.

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Chapter 6Outward-looking stage 3Develop a Joint research agenda Set-up the

mechanism to bring partners together

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The Outward-looking stage can take many forms,

depending on available resources and the level of need

within each region. The objectives of this phase are to

define the on-going actions the region should make to

ensure that cluster stakeholders can engage and become

a part of active projects and partnerships. Considerations

to achieve this outcome include:

1. Review all the data gathered so far - at a Regional,

European & Global level and use this to finalise the

Regional Research Agenda Action Plan. Use CReATEsJoint

Research Agenda for ICT Innovations in Creative Industries12

to see how your regions capabilities and needs fit with

the broader picture.

2. Connect with other regions running CReATE and get

involved with the exchange of information and potential

project partnerships that are being developed.

3. Look for new funding streams in research innovation

and product development.

4. Get involved in relevant events such as International

Matchmaking for different technology areas. You can run

additional Trans-regional Matching Workshops in your

own region if demand exists. In both cases ensure that the

right regional stakeholders can participate.

5. Review all the potential project and funding initiatives

that can help your stakeholders get research or product

development projects off the ground.

6. Use the information gathered from your region to

develop a list of projects that need partners either from

within your region or beyond it and put these into the

mix with other participants.

7. Consider setting-up some Trans-regional study visits for

stakeholders, based on the most promising project ideas

and potential partnerships from your region. Part funding

for these is often available.

8. Disseminate all of this activity and information back to

your region. Consider which distribution channels you

can use to reach stakeholders. You may have chambers of

commerce, trade associations or innovation networks that

would welcome this initiative. You could set-up your own

group using social networking sites, or join activities set-up

by the CReATE Partners, check out www.lets-create.net

for more information on how to connect your regional

stakeholders to the bigger picture across Europe.

9. Develop a set of recommended policy or funding

initiatives that will support the aims of CReATE in your

region. Many regional development agencies have seen

good returns from their support of business innovation

and near-to-market research.

Stage 3: Outward-looking

make connectionspull together findingsEuropean prioritiesdecide cluster prioritiesexplore potentialprojects &collaborations

resultsDevelop Projects

Joint Research AgendaAgree Regional

Research Action PlanPolicy proposals

Study Visitschart: Stage 3

Outward-looking

12 CReATEs Joint Research Agenda for ICT Innovation in Creative Industries www.lets-create.eu/downloads.html

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The final version of the Regional Research Agenda Action

Plan, being completed during this stage, needs to consider

the following:

Specific research priority areas relevant for boosting

ICT-innovation in a regions Creative Industries cluster.

Potential impacts of the research priority areas

identified (related in particular to regional companies

needs, the ICT-R&D capacities, strategic goals, etc.),

Regional stakeholders and policies involved in these

research areas.

Time-horizons and other issues

Dissemination Workshops

The CReATE team ran dissemination workshops and international match-making events

around Europe. These introduced the project, explained its methods, discussed its benefits to

participants and in some were able to begin developing international match-making.

Dissemination Workshop, Barcelona, Spain

The first international match-making for CreATE was done at the CReATE Conference

in Turin.

International Match-making & CReATE Conference, Turin, Italy

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Aligning Research Priorities Across Europe

To assist your regions work CReATE has published a

document, Joint Research Agenda for ICT Innovations

in Creative Industries. This is available from

www.lets-create.eu/downloads.html

This document pulls together all the findings so far and

sets a broad direction for regional and trans-regional

funding for future Creative Industry research. It serves

to show how and where your region fits into this

matrix of research priorities. The document is not fixed

in stone though! indeed it needs to evolve constantly.

The key priorities identified so far in no particular

order - include:

1. Visual and Interactive Experience

Virtual Environments

3D visual animation

Real-time visualization and interaction

High resolution display environments

Haptic computing

User-friendly immersive environments

User-Centred design of continuous interfaces

2. Tools of Productivity & Intelligent Automation

Semantic software for automated recognition,

assembling & indexing

Interactive artificial intelligence

Enhanced procedural generation tools for digital

content and prototyping

3. Digital Distribution

Encryption

Data compression & decompression

New business models

Cross-platform distribution

4. Mobility & Interoperability

Data streaming systems

Augmented reality solutions

Web security for online data exchange

Interoperability of mobile & other devices

Location based / personalised mobile service

5. User-Producer-Interaction in Development

Collaborative production & user-generated content

Web technology for online collaboration

Interactive testing environments

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Chapter 7Action-taking - Stage 4Setting Your Roadmap

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38

Stage 4: Action-taking

InfluenceRegional Policy &Funding Initiatives

National & EuropeanPolicy & Funding

launchRegional ResearchAgenda Action PlanIncreased Cluster ProfileStakeholder Groups

chart: Stage 4 Action-taking

Stage 4 is about ensuring that good intentions become a

roadmap of real actions!

The finest plans in the world do not in themselves

guarantee success practical delivery is vital! Stage 3

Outward-looking will have identified for you a range of

actions specific to your regions priorities.

During stage 4, the actions on your roadmap should be

announced and implemented as soon as possible. These

might typically include:

LAUNCH The Regional Research Agenda Action

Plan, including (budgets willing) some funding and/or

policy initiatives that can support the development ofcollaborations.

INSPIRE stakeholders with the benefits and possibilities

that these new and powerful partnerships and consortia

could be achieving for their businesses and the region as

a whole.

IDENTIFY for business and research stakeholders

which new or existing policies, funding programmes and

European initiatives can be harnessed to help them achieve

their objectives.

LAUNCH the communication mechanisms that will

help regional stakeholders find the right partners to

develop their product ideas or research goals. This may be a

social networking or other on-line group, a spin-off activity

from an existing trade or cluster body, or any combination.

START to build and encourage actual project and

partner collaborations in specific research areas and for

specific innovative products and services.

At a regional level, this means ensuring the cluster has

enough traction and influence to deliver on the Regional

Research Agenda Action Plan.

CHANGE orINFLUENCE the alignment of funding,programmes and initiatives for the long-term. Where

policies cannot be launched immediately, actions should still

be going on behind the scenes to influence policy changes

in the future at a regional, national and trans-regional level.

The Regional Research Agenda Action Plan should be

periodically updated, ensuring that it reflects the changing

face of creative, digital and ICT trends. It should also take

account of changes in the region, such as major policy

changes, funding changes, new businesses in the area

and so on.


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Chapter 8Monitoring & Evaluation stage 5Reviewing Progress & Implementing

Lessons Learnt

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It is good practice that any new processes, such as

CReATE, have a Monitoring & Evaluation Plan. This

ensures that stakeholders feel the process and results

have been handled with accuracy and fairness. It is a

chance to pull-together feedback, to either correct

something in the process before it is too late, or to

provide lessons learnt for future implementations of

CReATE.

There needs to be a monitoring culture in place from

day one.

Monitoring is the ongoing collection and review

of information (e.g., on the implementation of an

intervention, its coverage and use). It is used to assess

the quantity, quality and timeliness of inputs and to

provide measures of outputs. Monitoring methods

include data collection, activity records, interviews and

surveys. The primary aim is to monitor performance

and to identify problems so they can be addressed in a

timely manner. Monitoring does not, of itself, address the

wider evaluation issues concerning the objectives and

broad effects of the programme.13

Each CReATE stage should be reviewed in some

way before moving onto the next. This means that

participants should be willing to feedback and those

running CReATE willing to modify the process to

optimize its regional success.

Evaluation can be mid-term, at the end, or after

and agreed period, often 12 months. This enables

true outputs to be collected, such as jobs created,

collaborations, projects instigated and products or

services developed.

Evaluation at any stage of a project or process should

address three issues:

1. APPROPRIATENESS - are the decision-makers doing

the right thing?

2. IMPACTS - what are the results of their actions?

3. EFFECTIVENESS - could they do it better?

Mid-Term Evaluation is used to review progress.

Results help to modify and refocus interventions.

Methods include statistical data analysis, management

and user discussions, modeling, focus groups, control

group comparisons, expert panels, peer review and

network analysis. The CReATE process is short, so a

mid-term evaluation is unlikely to be beneficial.

Stage 5: Evaluation

collect feedback / data

monitor during projectevaluate afterwards

results

improveproject

lessons learntfor next cycle

chart: Monitoring & Evaluation stage 5

13 SPI - Enabling better RDTI Policymaking in Europes regions Strategic Policy

Intelligence Tools A Guide page 40-41 www.steinbeis-europa.de/478.html

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Intelligence Tools A Guide www.steinbeis-europa.de/478.html

Post-Evaluation measures the effects of a policy

intervention, its impacts and outcomes, examining

efficiency and efficacy. It can identify changes in the

conditions and behaviors of the targeted groups

and individuals. It is often used to improve design

and implementation of an intervention at its

next cycle. Methods used include bibliometric

analysis, citations analysis, statistical data analysis,

management and user discussions, focus groups,

case studies, control group comparisons, expert

panels/peer review, network analysis and

modeling.14

Where public money has been spent over a

process, such as CReATE - and funding has been

made available for projects or partner collaborations

- there are likely to be outputs to record and an

agreed audit process to be satisfied.

Lessons Learnt

For some people the evaluation function is regarded

as a routine tick box exercise. Used well, however,

both monitoring and evaluation can be hugely

beneficial both to improve the current process

and set out lessons leant for future policy and

intervention design. Effective evaluation can bring

the following benefits:

Evaluation can identify gaps in policy planning.

Evaluation ensures that objectives, targets

and results are analyzed with care, leading to

improvements in policy performance in the

future.

An evaluation culture can motivate policy-

makers to be alive to feedback and ensure that

improvements are made to their policies.

Evaluation enables the next cycle of a

project to be more successful -through the

implementation of lessons learnt.

A word of warning though. It is very easy for

evaluation processes to be run in an overly zealous

way! With too much resource in time and money

spent on too many evaluations and too great a

level of detail. Evaluation should always be a servant

to creative and progressive policy-making, not its

master.

Benchmarking in Brief

A chapter on Monitoring & Evaluation would not

be complete without mention of benchmarking.Organisations running CReATE may optionally wish

to look at benchmarking giving them a wider

perspective on the comparative performance of

their policies and programmes.


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Benchmarking provides practical learning through

comparing performance of policies or outcomes

across nations, regions, sectors, clusters, industries,

institutions, products or ser vices. The essence of

benchmarking is identifying the highest standards

of excellence and then making the improvements

necessary to come closer to or reach those

standards.15

In general, benchmarking is an improvement process

in which a company, organization or any other (multi-

organizational) system, carries out three activities:

1. COMPARE - its performance against best-in-class

external systems.

2. RESEARCH - how these systems have achieved

their superior performance?

3. IMPLEMENT - collected information to improve its

own performance.

An intrinsic benefit of benchmarking is the

opportunity to collaborate with other regions and

build trans-regional partnerships.

The evaluation and benchmarking of

clusters in the context of European cluster

mapping studies has recently attracted attention. It

predominantly focuses on measuring:

Current performance of the cluster or cluster

initiatives.

Success factors - framework conditions - leading

to the current performance.

Economic impact of the cluster or cluster

initiatives.

One of the most important motivations for cluster

benchmarking is to raise awareness among the

regional stakeholders of the competitive ranking of

the cluster compared with other clusters nationally

and internationally.


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Chapter 9Conclusions


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16 Europe 2020: A Strategy for Smart , Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. http: //ec.europa.eu/eu2020/index_en.htm

17A Digital Agenda for Europe 2009 http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digi tal-agenda/links/ index_en.htm

44

No one can predict the future. But we can predict thatthe Creative, Digital & ICT sectors will have a crucial

influence on the working life and leisure of our citizens

in the future.

We can already see in 2010 how crucial these sectors

are and how vital they will be for Europe to take

a leading role in innovation, research and business

entrepreneurship. We cannot afford to leave it to

other parts of the world to hustle in a new digital era.

Our clusters, regions and creative businesses need to

become a major part of the new digital story.

We only have to examine core European policies to

see how central the digital agenda is to many of them.

The Europe 2020 Strategy16 puts forward three mutually

reinforcing priorities:

Smart growth: developing an economy based on

knowledge and innovation.

Sustainable growth: promoting a more resource

efficient, greener and more competitive economy.

Inclusive growth: fostering a high-employment

economy delivering social and territorial cohesion.

In each of these, the creative and digital industries play

an impor tant par t. That is why A Digital Agenda forEurope17 is one of several flagship areas recognized by

the European Union as vital to delivering the Europe

2020 strategy.

So CReATE is very timely! The CReATE agenda shows

that both Creative & ICT businesses can learn and profit

from each other: Creative Industries are customers

and users of new innovative ICT applications, while

ICT can learn from Creative Industries about usable

and tailored applications. Together, both sectors boost

existing European strengths such as heritage, culture,creativity and diversity - making Europe more innovative,

economically strong and citizen focused.

Regions who participate in the CReATE process can

expect outcomes that include:

1. A greater level of consensus, common vision and

purpose amongst regional stakeholders throughout the

creative and digital sectors.

2. Agreement over regional research agendas and better


3. An increase in applied innovation and the

commercialisation of products and services.

4. An increase in cooperation between countries over

shared research priorities, resulting in more trans-

regional working on a wide range of innovative and

commercial projects.

Creative & Digital Industries have the potential to make

a huge difference to many regions. Opportunities for

growth and collaboration are numerous, but to really

benefit a region needs to develop pro-active policies

that enable their creative clusters to grow and connectto other stakeholders and funding opportunities, both

within their region, nation and across Europe.

In conclusion then, the CReATE team would like to

encourage you to implement CReATE in your region.

Go for it there is much to gain!

The CReATE Project Team2010


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Chapter 10References

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Further information about CReATE

Go to www.lets-create.eu/downloads.html for the following:

CReATE Joint Research Agenda

CReATE flyer

CReATE Toolkit A Step by Step Guide: Creative Cluster

Development through ICT Innovation [this document]

Global Synthesis Report:

Creative Regions: Future Trends for Digital Creative Industries

in Europe.

Summary of Global Synthesis Report:

Creative Regions: Future Trends for Digital Creative Industries

in Europe.

Regional Analysis on Future Trends for Digital Creative Industries in

Baden-Wrttemberg - South West Germany


Rhone-Alpes, South West France


Regione Piemonte, North West Italy


West Midlands, England, United Kingdom

Strategic Cluster Development: Applying Strategic Policy Intelligence

to create a Joint Research Agenda

Background paper on ICT Innovations in Creative Industries

Summary of background paper on ICT Innovations in

Creative Industries

Other Information

Enabling better RDTI Policymaking in Europes Regions Strategic

Polocy Intelligence Tools A Guide

www.steinbeis-europa.de/478.html

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create toolkit november 2010

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