Vol. II: Shaping Information and Communication ... - IMA,ZLW & IfU

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they take individual responsibility to achieve a limited objective committed to the sponsoring
agency. The Cross-Cultural Innovation Network project on the other hand involved multiple
partners each in a certain sense being a principal investigator. How would individual project
responsibilities evolve in a collaborative mode amongst a group of principal investigators?
Who would collaborate with whom? The project structure being different from the usual
individual projects familiar to Indian partners, Indian partners shared these feeling of not fully
‘understanding’ the project.
Therefore the Brighton workshop in September 1999 was an important and necessary step not
only in terms of getting to know each other but also for clearing some of these apprehensions.
The workshop enabled partners to visualise a portfolio of specific aspects of innovations;
aspects that appeared to be of common concerns and interests to both the European and Indian
partners. Collaborative activities could thus be built upon these specific aspects; “Dishes” the
partners could prepare during the course of the project.
All the project partners met for the first time in September 1999 at this Brighton workshop. At
this initial stage, many partners did not know each other as a group. They came from different
cultural contexts, disciplinary backgrounds, institutional commitments, and methods of
working and aspirations. In this first network group meeting, however, the combination of
formal, informal, and intense interaction soon made us realise that despite different
backgrounds we were still “like-minded” people. At a macro level we shared concerns for
issues such as economic development based on diverse material, cultural and human
resources and connecting innovations to the enhancement of skills and entrepreneurial
capabilities of entrepreneurs, farmers and artisans. The issues were like basic ingredients
available to chefs and the Brighton workshop turned out to be like an exercise of generating a
menu of dishes the different chefs could prepare depending upon their own experiences,
capabilities and tastes.
Challenges of Cross-Cultural Collaboration
Some of the specific aspects of European developments with significant implications on
economic development excited Indian partners:
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Combining artistic and cultural activities with Information and Communication
Technology to create ‘cultural industry’ (Wales).