Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

7Technology, connectivity and the creative economyturn. Large investors from developing countries announcedthat their fundamentals remained strong, that demandremains robust and that they do not envision much negativeimpact from the crisis in their operating regions. Some localcompanies in developing countries could profit from thehesitancy of foreign investors. There is of course a risk thatproject financing and aid could become less accessible asglobal liquidity has been contracting. Certainly, the financialcrisis affected various segments of the ICT market in differentways. In terms of infrastructure, mobile telephony maybe best equipped to weather the economic crisis due to itshigh growth and the established players in most countries.Mobile telephony has become the most importantmode of telecommunication in developing countries.Internet access has become a reality for many businesses andpublic institutions as well as for individuals with higher levelsof education and income. Even for the vast majority oflow-income populations, mobile telephony is likely to betheir most relevant communication technology. Much likethe Internet, mobile telephony helps to create businessopportunities, enables efficient sharing of information andknowledge, and empowers households and communitieswith information. Many developing countries are quicklycatching up or even surpassing developed countries, sincemobile connectivity sidesteps some of the major obstacles toother types of connectivity, such as the costly and time-consumingdeployment of fixed-line infrastructure owing tothe remoteness of underdeveloped areas. In Africa, mobilephones have proven so successful that in many cases theyhave replaced fixed lines. Given the increasing penetrationof mobile phones in the developing regions, the role ofICTs in fostering the creative economy will relate toinformation access and data sharing as well as to newmultimedia creations.This positive impact of ICTs on developing countriesis counterbalanced by a number of factors besides physicalaccess that contribute to the disparities with developingcountries. Apart from the appropriateness of the products,their costs and the regulatory framework governing ICTs,there is an important knowledge gap in the skills required tounderstand, absorb and act on the information available onthe Internet. The low level of formal education among thelower-income populations in many countries in Africa, Asiaand Latin America is an absolute barrier to ICT use andadoption. This problem relates to: (a) education, since technicalskills as well as basic literacy (linguistic, numeric andcomputer) are needed for people to benefit from ICTs; (b)language, since the dominance of English on the Internet isa problem for many populations in developing countries; and(c) human resources, since ICT professionals and techniciansare highly sought after in the developed world, leaving adearth of these skills in the developing countries.7.3 Measurement issues and creative contentThe difficulty of capturing indicators for ICTs is onefactor that complicates measurement of the creative economy.Besides the lack of data availability, collected data are notalways comparable across countries, and certain specificitiesapply. Demand for ICT statistics keeps growing as morecountries seek to design, monitor or review national policiesto maximize the advantages of information technologies.Moreover, strategies for the creative economy require concertedpolicies to induce creativity and innovation as well asto assist creators to reach global markets, and for thesepurposes ICTs tools are essential. At the international level,comparable ICT indicators are critical in making crosscountrycomparisons of ICT development, monitoring theglobal digital divide and establishing relevant benchmarks. Toreflect the evolving nature of many ICTs, the core list ofICT international indicators was revised in 2008. 6E-business refers to the use of ICT to facilitatebusiness processes. Creative entrepreneurs can use ICT tocommunicate with suppliers and clients; to manage finance,human resources and materials; and to purchase and sellcreative goods and services online. Electronic transactions ore-commerce is a form of Internet use that has seen stronggrowth in many countries. However, there is still untappedpotential due to the low level of ICT used by small andmicroenterprises in developing countries. E-commerce is atthe core of the statistical measurement of e-business, but it6 UNCTAD and the UN Statistics Division jointly prepared the “Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy – 2009 revised edition”(UNCTAD/SDTE/ECB/2007/REV.1), available from www.measuring-ict.unctad.org.194 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010