vic- virtual incubator for the creative industries why develop a virtual incubator for the creative...

VIC- virtual incubator for the creative industries

Why develop a virtual incubator for the creative industries…


Why develop the creative industries…

Why business incubation…


Business incubation brings wealth, opportunity, employment and regeneration to local, regional and national economies. Incubated companies move out of incubation environments and achieve sustainable commercial success in their own right.


Research into best practice clearly illustrates how effective business incubation is

(Innovation – Business Incubation, benchmarking research 2002).


However, within the creative industries graduates move towards self-employment in specialist workshops. (Only 11% of graduate product designers progressed into major design companies) The traditional incubator environment is not suitable because of the specialist resources and needs of the industry yet these companies require generic and specialist business support that is delivered in suitable and appropriate modules with on-line support and training.


Design graduates are reluctant to develop business skills and entrepreneurial acumen.

(Design Initiative Report 2003)


Further to this the UKBI Pilot Study of the Provision of Business Incubation to the Creative Industries – October 2003 gave an indication that:



•Traditional areas of business support were not geared up to dealing with creative businesses




•There are challenges with persuading talented entrepreneurs of the importance of commercial skills




•There are challenges with persuading talented entrepreneurs of the importance of commercial skills

•There are challenges with clients of the worth of Intellectual Property


What is the definition of the creative industries?



“those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.”



“those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.”

This includes the following sectors: Advertising, Architecture, Crafts, Design, Designer Fashion, Film and Video, Interactive Leisure Software, Music, Performing Arts, Publishing, Television and Radio and in addition the cultural heritage, tourism and museum industries are identified as being closely related to the creative industries.



The potential users of VIC will be emerging entrepreneurs, young start-up companies, graduates from art and design schools, enterprise training organisations and specialised business advisors within the development of the creative industries.


Why?


Why?

Develops the latent entrepreneurial talent within the creative industries.


Why?

Cost effective - in many cases lower levels of investment in creative individuals and businesses are more likely to provide economic returns in the short term and with less risk.


Why?

“Entrepreneurial learning in the cultural industries appears at its most powerful when entrepreneurs are ‘doing’ and reflecting on ‘doing’ business within their sector contexts.”


Why?

The lack of creative industry specialist knowledge is a drawback as employees/start-up entrepreneurs need access to specific advice and information about supply chains, networks and processes that are not common to other sectors. Although they have the talent and creativity to produce innovative products, our ‘creatives’ do not have the basic business gumption, know-how or confidence that would convince a potential investor.


Why?

Designers are reluctant to develop business skills and entrepreneurial acumen


Virtual incubation for the creative industries will…

develop an environment that incorporates, business support, mentoring, networking and collaborative working.



address the problem of ‘creatives’ ill-equipped with the skills, knowledge and access to networks and communities of practice that allow them to make their way more quickly and confidently and to develop their business



develop gumption and an entrepreneurial mindset



provide cost effective business training without the need for expensive premises



provide an underpinning infrastructure that would enable young businesses in the creative industries to thrive


Addressing business development priorities:



“to improve the skills and competences of people…”



“to improve the skills and competences of people…”

VIC directly addresses this priority by developing very accessible and individual guidance and business skills development and improves the quality of the professional entrepreneurship by using creating an environment that simulates the ethos and business support strategies that are found in business incubators. It also will facilitate positive attitudes towards technological and organisational change that is required in today’s business world.



“to promote and reinforce the contribution of vocational training to the process of innovation …”



“to promote and reinforce the contribution of vocational training to the process of innovation …”

VIC directly addresses this priority by improving entrepreneurial endeavours and promoting new media and innovation by ICT use, stimulating knowledge, assessment and evaluation, increasing entrepreneurial spirit and business gumption by appropriate and suitable means.



“Developing relevant and innovative e-learning content”



“Developing relevant and innovative e-learning content”

VIC directly addresses this priority by stimulating individual knowledge and institutional knowledge by targeted knowledge transfer and providing a learning environment that balances generic business skills learning with the needs of the creative industry. This in turn will encourage the creative designers to see the relevance of ‘traditional’ business skills to the development of the company. The innovative aspects of VIC is an exciting engagement that encourages design conscious and design aware people to engage with training that at the same time supports the growth and development of the company.


Training and Innovation



The current and existing business support related to incubation is not specific and appropriate for the majority of creative industries. The training and support content can be adapted from existing products. This documentation and monitoring material will support the growth of business and will inculcate best practice in an industry that is proved to have great potential for growth but one that is notorious for the poor or weak business practices.



The training aspects of VIC will aim to nurture both the creative spirit and business skills because creative enterprises need both if they are going to thrive.



Comparisons with other industry sectors tend to be unhelpful and general business support services often fail to understand the differences.



These tensions can lead to a general atmosphere of discomfort where ‘creatives’ doubt the ethics and viability of making a business out of their talent. VIC can address these issues and at the same time develops the analytical and theoretical skills without detriment of more lateral thinking abilities.



Creative disciplines direct ‘designer makers’ towards the creation of new, innovative or desirable products and aesthetic experiences that by definition have market value. It is vital that it also encourages and develops their abilities to identify opportunities and link creative ideas with commercial realities as well as providing a grounding in the realities of freelance working and an understanding of how to manage and develop their business.



Therefore VIC should introduce to vocational business training these elements and bring together the creative – lateral thinking and analytical and theoretical aspects. It should also complement recent developments of pedagogical approaches to learning: Action learning and Experiential learning/activity learning or ‘learning by doing’. These principals can be integral to VIC and are ideal for our ‘creatives’ and in fact preferred over traditional approaches to learning i.e. classroom based, “chalk and talk”. Learners are far more stimulated and willing to learn by employing these approaches..



i. Content innovation – the training and support material for VIC should be totally relevant to the creative industries, not only addressing the pedagogical issues, but should be presented in a manner that will be conducive to and engage with those coming from a creative, artistic and design background. This environment should be designed to be not only friendly but culturally and aesthetically appropriate to these highly visually aware people..



ii. Technical and delivery innovation – the support material and documents for VIC should be developed using the latest ‘cutting-edge’ technology. Also the technologies used should not only be used for the delivery of the training and business support products but will be integrated into the whole management of the project. Therefore the incubator, the trainers, those being trained and those quality assuring and assessing, monitoring and support material will be using the technology that is fundamental to VIC. For example a web platform using php should be used not only for the communications among the companies and associates but the same technologies will be used for the training and to hold the support material. Integral to the incubator should be the use of e-bulletins, web conferencing and significantly the use of PDAs and mobile phone interfaces..



iii. Training innovation –

Original approaches to training could be based around:.



Action learning. In an action learning set learners are able to share their learning in a supportive environment. An action learning set can be with peers from the partnership or a mixed set where they will work with peers from different businesses and regions. These learning methodologies can be established via an actual learning environment, eg workshop, seminar room etc.

.



Experiential learning/activity learning or 'learning by doing' Learners will be involved in an active exploration of experience related to their creative discipline. Experience is used to test out ideas and assumptions rather than to obtain practice passively. Practice can be very important but it is greatly enhanced by reflection with assessment a key factor to measuring success. Strategies will be in place for learners to selectively reflect on their experience in a critical way rather than take experience for granted and assume that the experience on its own is sufficient. By learning as they conduct their work they will be committed to the process of exploring and learning. Trainers have an important role in devising appropriate experiences and facilitating reflection.



The challenge within incubation is to devise training around these approaches within the limited time, availability and scope. However, it is felt that a sufficient contribution to pedagogical approaches to a training programme can be undertaken and suitably assessed to make it worthwhile. It is far better to work in an innovative way, encouraging and supporting engagement in learning than depend upon the traditional methodologies that have been proven not to succeed within business training in the creative industries.


The impact of VIC…


The impact of VIC…Short-term results of the project:



- possibility of offering specialised business training and support in the field of the creative industries for a large number of creative businesses in regions of post-industrial regeneration




- substantial new learning material and new technological approaches which will extend the current provision of generic business training to include the specific needs of ‘creative’ entrepreneurs




- substantial new learning material and new technological approaches which will extend the current provision of generic business training to include the specific needs of ‘creative’ entrepreneurs

- creation of a new network of businesses and employees from the creative industries that will be involved with the development, assessment and dissemination of the methodologies incorporated into the incubator


The impact of VIC…Long-term results of the project:



- development of professional business skills and tools in the field of business training for businesses and employees in the creative industries




- improvement of professional knowledge of the training needs of employees and entrepreneurs in the creative industries




- improvement of professional knowledge of the training needs of employees and entrepreneurs in the creative industries

- improvement of the development of post-industrial regeneration areas by the enhanced of training of employees and entrepreneurs in start-up creative businesses and therefore meeting the already recognised potential growth of business within this sector



- reduction of unemployment in post-industrial regeneration regions because of the growth and development of the creative industries




- established network of virtual incubators (including the EU) with the cross-fertilisation of ideas and collaborative work





- involvement of women as new entrepreneurs





- involvement of women as new entrepreneurs- engagement of employees from the creative industries in

training by the use of learning strategies that incorporate the use of design led interfaces


The way forward…


Outline…

This Pilot project will develop a virtual business incubator for the creative industries using innovative ICT including, CMS, SMS and RSS feeds.The project will provide specific business support and training for start-up creative companies. Three key modules for the project will be1. Content development2. Online environment and collaborative communication tools development3. Training programme


Outline…

The content will include: Virtual Business Support, Virtual Mentoring, Networking and Collaborative Working, and a training programme covering generic and specific support.

The virtual incubation process could follow these stages: ENTRY Protocol (Counselling and Application) - Pre-Incubation Activity - Incubation - Green housing (Preparation for independence and progress towards a stand-alone company) - EXIT Protocol.


Tangible Outcomes

1. Project e-Newsletter2. Collaborative online communication facility3. Project management handbook4. Content management driven, online project dissemination and information sharing environment5. Virtual incubator support environment6. Individual guidance and counselling7. New and revised incubator documents inc: Business support content, Training material, Assessment tools, QA tools8. Valorisation web site9. End of project regional ‘mini’ conference/workshops


Project Activity Management

The project will be managed through a Project Steering Group that represents the partners via the following work packages:WP1 Project Management WP2 Valorisation WP3 Review of existing surveys, data, models, studies and literatureWP4 Content Development WP5 Environment and web tools WP6 Training programme WP7 Assessment and testing WP8 Quality assurance


Thank you…


Creativebias - www.creativebias.org

Design Initiative - www.designinit.org.uk

MakeMe - http://www.makemebuydesign.co.uk/

Futures Network - www.futuresnetwork.org.uk

ICDC - www.icdc.org.uk

Digex - www.digex.eu.com

ACME - www.merseysideacme.co.uk

Digitalinc - www.digitalinc.org.uk

http://www.creativebias.org/

http://www.designinit.org.uk/

http://www.makemebuydesign.co.uk/



http://www.futuresnetwork.org.uk/

http://www.icdc.org.uk/

http://www.digex.eu.com/

http://www.merseysideacme.co.uk/

http://www.digitalinc.org.uk/


Valorisation?

•Exploitation

•Commercialisation

•Dissemination


Valorisation

The strategy will cover the following: Valorisation Plan which will lay out a detailed schedule of activity for the lifetime of the project such as identifying complimentary networks for dissemination outside of immediate partner networks a valorisation website will be setup to co-ordinate this activity with support materials such as an electronic presentation and brochure being made available to all partners, with media friendly versions available on the website.


Valorisation

Sustainability will be a key focus of the project and to this end a Project e-Newsletter will be produced and supported by a comprehensive database of key contacts from within the partnership, so ensuring a highly targeted, high impact audience base.


Valorisation

Shared responsibility and ownership of the valorisation process will underpin its success or failure. As a result this project will use a collaborative communication facility which has been used very successfully in a number of previous Leonardo projects the coordinators have been involved in, to create a strong sense of ownership and knowledge sharing between the partners from the very beginning of the project.


Valorisation

Integration and interaction with potential users is critical to the lifeblood of the project. VirIncCreate intends to provide structured lines of communication via mobile technologies such as delivering project updates in the form of SMS messages to mobile phones or press releases to PDAs. This will allow the project to interact with potential users on a flexible and individual basis and by delivering key information in a format and a time to suit the user this the communication process an integrated and ongoing activity within the project.


Valorisation

Commercialisation and business planning activity will act as a key driver within the project. All partners will engage in this activity for the lifetime of the project with key milestones being set within the project for workshops where all partners will aim to present the materials to a key target audience either physically at the event host or virtually via the project dissemination and information sharing environment. This online area will act as a virtual conference facility for the project with web meetings, information exhibit areas and RSS feeds linked in for direct user access.


Valorisation

Long-term sustainability of the project would come about by the development of an exit document which would be presented at the end of the project at a regional ‘mini’ conference held in the UK with all partners in attendance. This will allow the project to move to the next phase of development seamlessly if there is demand for this to happen.


Way forward…

Short term

•Evidence base - keep records of all events attended, documents, publications etc•Produce a pamphlet•Valorisation committee formed

vic- virtual incubator for the creative industries why develop a virtual incubator for the creative...

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