Lighting the fuse: collaboration between

academics and creative and digital

businesses across the North East

Prof Eric Cross, Dean of Cultural Affairs,

Newcastle University

Principal Investigator, Creative Fuse North East

'Fusion' takes place when creative inspiration is integrated with digital and IT skills to produce 'fused' businesses.

UK Fuse 2013, National Centre for Universities & Business

Superfused firms grow nearly three times faster than unfused firms, and 40% faster than the average CDIT firm.

Brighton Fuse Report, 2014

What?

Creative Fuse North East will help unlock the potential of the creative, digital and IT sectors by driving innovation and growing the region's economy.

1. The largest research & analysis study undertaken in the North East CDIT sector. Follows on from Brighton Fuse and London Fusion

2. A substantive programme of collaborative innovation across five academic institutions to help address sectoral barriers to innovation, growth and sustainability of the CDIT sector

3. Promotion of specialist resources and expertise, held by the five universities and the CDIT sector, to support spillover of innovation and creativity into other NE sectors

What?

Three key research questions:

1. What are the distinctive regional/geographic characteristics of the CDIT sector in the North East? How do these characteristics promote or inhibit fusion of creative and digital skills and interdisciplinary working?

2. What interventions can be co-designed, piloted and tested to develop new models for innovation that will apply skills from creative graduates to benefit the wider creative economy?

3. How can we most effectively join up the region’s resources, especially those held by the universities (e.g. networks, skills, intellectual expertise, technologies and spaces) and those in the CDIT sector, to increase innovation and creativity in other sectors to address major business and societal challenges (e.g. ageing demographic, sustainable transport, health and wellbeing)?

Who?Creative Fuse North East is a substantial partnership between the five North East universities – Newcastle (lead), Durham, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside – the CDIT sector and the Arts & Humanities Research Council, with further ERDF and Arts Council England Creative Local Growth Fund funding.

1. A major collaboration across the five NE universities, working with over 40 academics on a priority sector for the North East economy

2. Working with specialist partners including 6 support organisations, 12 Local Authorities (North East Culture Partnership) and a sector of over 4000 businesses

3. Robust governance structure - Advisory Board, Regional Steering Group, Operations Group & Project Management Team

How?

Collaborating over a 30 month project to research, analyse, develop, implement & share best practice.

1. Divided into 2 phases:

• Research & Analysis

• Innovation pilots, CPD, sharing resources & best practice

2. Delivered through a range of work packages involving co-

production between HE institutions and project partners

3. Anticipated outputs to include:

• Substantial body of new research

• Unique insight into CDIT sector

• Action research from innovation pilots

• Substantial engagement with sector

• Promotion of specialist expertise

• Sector spillover to drive innovation

Why?

The North East is recognised by TechNorth as one of the UK’s important Creative, Digital & IT sector clusters, contributing directly & indirectly to the North East economy.

1. 1,311,000 people economically active in the region

2. 66,000 or 5.6% of all North East jobs are in the creative economy

3. Identified as priority sector by both Local Economic Partnerships

4. Recognised as driver of innovation

5. Creating opportunities to stimulate other NE sectors - process, health, energy, subsea, engineering & service

6. Completely aligned with North East Regional Economic Plans

7. One of the areas in the Industrial Strategy Growth Fund

When?

PHASE 1 (May 2016 – April 2017)

• Initial research and mapping survey

• Analysis and dissemination of survey findings

• 10x10 Research Pilots: completed

PHASE 2 (May 2017 – Oct 2018)

• Innovation pilot projects

• CPD skills activity

• Dissemination of findings

• Ethnographic study of fusion: from Oct 2016

Initial survey findings

• 20% of firms and 36% of freelancers stated that

distance from London is a significant disadvantage

• Nevertheless, 30% of businesses and 48% of

freelancers noted that the NE lifestyle and quality of

life is a significant advantage

• 32% of business say the current economic climate

seriously hinders them, and 31% say that gaps in

skills in the workforce hinders them

• Some frustrations with funding, London drain, and a

negative attitude towards growth and even ‘success’

• Freelancers noted the artistic community as positive

aspect

Innovation pilots

• Aiming to grow businesses in new collaborative ways

• Fostering interdisciplinary collaborations

• Quadruple helix model: mix of more than one university; large businesses and SMEs; creative, digital and tech skills; public

• Exploring geography of North East: urban v rural issues

• Mix of research (AHRC), business development (ERDF), and creative and cultural sector (Arts Council)

• Spillovers: creative skills enhancing work in other sectors

• Northumbria and Durham Police, Northumbrian Water, manufacturing, healthcare

• Drawing on 10 X 10 project in Sunderland

Fusing the fuses

What are the opportunities to build on links between our two projects?

• Behaviour change – for improvement of health, for fusion of skills, for public perception of police and digital habits

• Health inequalities – can new use of digital and creative technologies address some of these issues?

• Healthy ageing – importance of creative activities on wellbeing in later life: Ageing Creatively

• Addressing issues around Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund? The Wellbeing City. Global Challenges Research Fund?

• Quarterly Research Meetings; CAKE (Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange)

Fusing the fuses

Benefits to businesses from incorporating creative artists into processes (10 x 10):

Businesses considered ‘creativity and innovation’ as the means through which they ‘are able to bring a new approach and perspective’. They‘wanted to see how a pair of fresh eyes see the things’.

This project was so different to our company and business that we hoped the opportunity to work alongside an artist would bring a new perspective. Artists are from a different background compared to the company, so they have different ideas and methodologies.

The comparison I would make is that we could have taken the brief that we gave to [Artist's name] and given it to a Marketing/PR company without changing it too much, and I think we got a lot more value potentially out of [Artist's name] than we would have done out of that company. I think for what we contributed to it money wise, you get good value for money using creative people.

Thank you

Prof Eric CrossPrincipal InvestigatorCreative Fuse North East

eric.cross@ncl.ac.uk

jason.legget@ncl.ac.uk (Project Director)info@creativefusene.org.uk@CreativeFuseNE