The nature of the world economy keeps on evolving. It has moved from an agriculture base to an industrial base to an information-based one and now the creative economy.Terms like the green economy and the silver economy, environmentally friendly and age friendly respectively, are also in vogue.The driving force for these changes has been the incorporation of new social issues and challenges into economic policies. The descriptive term is indicative of the new emphasis.
In the draft medium term plan, in the 2013 Unesco report, the following is indicated. "Creativity is understood as human capacity, through imagination or invention, to produce something new and original in order to solve problems. It is a unique and renewable resource...creativity, embracing cultural expression and the transformative power of innovation, can contribute to finding imaginative and better developmental outcomes."
The global market for the creativity economy is estimated at US$1.6 trillion. Elements include the creations of craftsmen and both formal and informal cultural activities. An example of a formal cultural activity is Carnival whilst RamLeela remains an informal one.
In some countries, cultural activities contribute five per cent or more to the national GDP. In a culturally diverse country like ours, the potential for sustainable economic growth through the cultural economy is quite significant. In fact, the cultural economy can range from being a small component to the dominant one in creative economies. In Britain, culture-based activities are emphasised in their significant creative economy.
The role of science and technology in the creative/cultural economy is very significant and critical. Carnival provides a good illustrative example. Many foreigners participate in Carnival and would buy keep costumes as souvenirs.The problem they face is that the items do not have a long life. The idea behind souvenirs is to have a live-long momento of the occasion or visit.
The solution of this multi-disciplinary problem requires the participation of material scientists, design engineers in addition to band leaders. The output would be is a high quality, innovative economic product.
Diabetes has reached pandemic proportions worldwide and epidemic status in T&T. In the East Indian community, having dinner at yagyas and pujas (prayer meetings) is an integral element. Whilst the food is very tasty and therefore difficult to resist, it is loaded with calories and can be hard on the stomach, since many items are fried. This provides a wonderful challenge to food scientists and technologists.
If tasty low calorie solutions can be found, there will a huge Diaspora market for these products. The output of such research can result in sustainable businesses. One successful and creative entrepreneur has actually started a doubles factory and a company, known for its bread and biscuits, now mass manufacture sada roti (flat bread), another very popular food. Nan (and Indian flat bread) is exported word wide. So can doubles, once the necessary R&D is done.
For this to happen, there must be the science and technology infrastructure to support the cultural aspects of the creative economy. Sadly, that infrastructure is far from what it should be. Many countries have dedicated R&D institutions to engender and foster the creative work. In T&T, the universities must assume that role.
The cost to the taxpayers and the country for supporting these institutions is quite high. The output in this area has been negligible. UTT was set up expressly with the aim of providing such support for inventors, innovators and the creative folk.Monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes and impact of the universities must be implemented and reported.