The AHRC welcomed the launch this week of the Technology Strategy Board’s (TSB) first ever Creative Industries Technology Strategy Report which highlighted that the creative industries must keep at the forefront of technology if the sector is to continue to thrive. Including architecture, design, advertising, performing arts, film and video, music, publishing, video games, and software, the creative industries sector has grown at twice the rate of the economy in the last two years and now employs over two million people in the UK.
The TSB’s report highlights that Digital Media now represents 70 per cent of the value of the whole of the UK's creative industries sector – and shows that new technology presents both significant threats as well as exciting opportunities for the UK's creative industry businesses.
Following the launch of the report the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC’s) Head of Knowledge Transfer, Susan Amor, said, “The AHRC welcomes the report. In particular, its emphasis on digital content creation and audience feedback which provides fertile ground for arts and humanities disciplines to engage with the strategy. In addition, the introduction of social media as a new Creative Industries subsector recognises that content creation is the driver for platform delivery - a significant step towards involving content producers in the innovation process.”
The Creative Industries Technology Strategy report gives a new analysis of the make-up of the creative industries, based on its engagement with technology, and aggregates each element into three new segments -Content, Services and Artefacts. The strategy recommends that the Technology Strategy Board provides support to research and develop innovation in two areas of underexploited value - Metadata and Cross Platform production.
Susan Concludes, “The AHRC looks forward to playing a key role in the implementation of the strategy, particularly in terms of helping to develop Knowledge Transfer models for the Creative Industries so that they are in the best possible position to benefit from the immense contribution that arts and humanities researchers can make in this vital area.”
The executive summary of the Creative Industries Technology Strategy is available to view and at: http://www.innovateuk.org/_assets/pdf/CreativeIndustriesStrategy_Execsummary.pdf
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Notes to Editors
Media contact: Emi Spinner, Communications Officer e.spinner@ahrc.ac.uk, 0117 9876 770
The executive summary of the Creative Industries Technology Strategy is available to view and download at: http://www.innovateuk.org/_assets/pdf/CreativeIndustriesStrategy_Execsummary.pdf. The full strategy will be available at the launch and will be published on the Technology Strategy Board website (www.innovateuk.org).
About the Arts and Humanities Research Council-
Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards.
Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.