White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 1In the case of “absorptive capacity”, theverdict on the Italian technological delayis tempered by the acknowledgement ofan indispensable positive, innovativecapacity to absorb knowledgetechnologies. The model based on theabsorption of innovations is typical ofcountries whose industrial structure isfounded on systems of small and microenterprises whose developmentproceeds through the spread ofinnovation from one firm to another,thanks to a system or network andsocial capital (Rullani, 2002). Moreover,the capacity to explore new solutions interms of innovations in processes,products or markets, means theadoptive process is not passive but isable, in turn, to generate subsequentstages in the creative re-elaboration ofthe innovations adopted.In conclusion, a mixed picture emergesin which technological knowledge andinnovation as the cutting edge for thecultural industries in Italy seem to showpotential and developments which, ifadequately supported, also by publicprojects, could make up a slightlyalarming delay.1.4 The Macrosector of theCultural Industries andCreativity in ItalyThe model of creativity and culturalindustries has an equivalent inquantitative terms in a vitally importantmacro sector of the Italian economicsystem. This sector (henceforth referredto as the Macrosector) is often notconsidered in official documents,because of its cross-sector nature, whicheludes statistical analysis, and because ofits contemporary nature, still not subjectto accounting and quantitativeassessments. In fact because of itselusive nature, it is still difficult to makea complete economic analysis of theMacrosector according to theconventional classification of industryand services adopted by official statisticagencies.In this paragraph, we will attempt anexercise in quantification which has stillnot been officialised in nationalaccounting data, nor in the estimates ofthe Italian National Institute of Statistics(ISTAT). The data must therefore beinterpreted with due caution.Definition and method for studyingthe MacrosectorIn line with the reports on creative andcultural industries produced by othercountries (UK, 2007a, 2007b; EU, 2007;Hong Kong, 2003; US, 2006; France,2006), the reconstruction of theeconomic value of the Macrosector ofthe cultural and creative industries inItaly may be divided into three stages:WHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 29