Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

ecorded and copied. In both cases, this potentially createsvulnerabilities for developing economies and the class ofgoods and services known as “traditional cultural expressions”.In essence, most creative-economy practitioners maketheir living from trading in ideas; intellectual property rights(IPRs) offer a possibility for them to earn “rent” on the useof these ideas. An unevenly developed, operated or governedintellectual property system carries with it many issues to allproducers, and notably cultural producers, and especiallythose in the developing world, of not receiving adequatereward for their intellectual and labour investment in creativegoods and services. Second, a regulatory regime that onlyrecognizes IPRs and a single business model is unlikely to beeither successful or effective in our times.7.2 Connectivity and its wider impact7Technology, connectivity and the creative economyOne of the targets set by the world leaders at theWorld Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003— more than half of the world’s population should haveready access to ICTs — appears to have been reached sevenyears ahead of schedule. This is due largely to the mobilephone revolution, which now has more than 4 billion subscribersworldwide. The advent of digital and Internet-basedICTs has opened a new set of marketing and distributionopportunities, thereby boosting the economic potential ofthe creative economy. At the 2003 Summit, the internationalcommunity recognized the ICT sector as a pillar of economicgrowth and competitiveness. Paragraph 8 of the WSISDeclaration of Principles states:We recognize that education, knowledge, informationand communication are at the core of humanprogress, endeavour and well-being. Further, informationand communication technologies (ICTs) have animmense impact on virtually all aspects of our lives. Therapid progress of these technologies opens completelynew opportunities to attain higher levels of development.The capacity of these technologies to reduce manytraditional obstacles, especially those of time and distance,for the first time in history makes it possible touse the potential of these technologies for the benefit ofmillions of people in all corners of the world.Research being carried out by UNCTAD affirms thatICTs contribute positively to economic growth in both developingand developed economies. 2 They boost productivity byimproving the efficiency of individuals, firms, sectors and theeconomy as a whole. ICTs can also generate positive sideeffects in the economy through learning-by-doing, fastertransfers of know-how and increased transparency. ICTadoption creates unprecedented opportunities for industriesand businesses in developing countries to overcome the constraintsposed by limited access to resources and markets.They also provide an opportunity for enterprises in developingcountries to obtain better access to finance throughimproved online credit information structures. Most importantly,ICTs lower transaction costs and facilitate trade, therebyopening new international business opportunities.Developing countries with better and more efficient ICTTable 7.1SegmentTelecom servicesTelecom equipmentSoftware and computer servicesComputer hardwareTelevision servicesConsumer electronicsTotalSource: DigiWorld (2007:24)Contribution of segments of ICT industriesto global GDP, 2003-2007Contribution to global GDP (%)2003 2004 2005 2006 20072.80.61.80.90.70.67.42.80.61.70.80.70.77.32.80.61.70.80.70.77.32.70.61.70.80.70.77.32.70.61.70.80.70.77.2infrastructure attract more foreign investment and outsourcingcontracts and, generally, trade more.It is noteworthy that most Internet users now reside inthe developing world. Mobile phones have emerged as themost widespread ICT tool in Africa, Asia, Latin America, theCaribbean and the Pacific; they are used extensively, not onlyfor voice communication but also for SMS (short messageservice) and increasingly for other data applications such as2 UNCTAD (2006). “Using ICT’s to achieve growth and development” Available from http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/c3em29d2_en.pdf.190 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010