How the creative industries develop, facilitate, and spread innovation throughout the economy—in seven key metrics.The Impactof the Creative Industries on Innovation
Innovation in the creative industries arises when creativity, design, communication, and an understanding of users are combined with scientific and technological knowledge. The creative industries do not develop innovations in isolation, but rather in collaboration with businesses, academia, and society. Their particular strength lies in translating ideas into marketable solutions, thereby driving innovation throughout the entire economy.
In the creative industries, innovation is part of the business model. 71% are actively engaged in innovation
Seven out of ten companies in the creative industries introduced at least one innovation within three years. They launched a new or significantly improved product or a new service, or implemented new processes within their own companies. As a result, the creative industries achieved the highest proportion of innovators compared to other sectors.
Research and development also play an important role. About 31% of creative industries conducted their own R&D activities. Among companies with at least ten employees, the share was about 50%, which is twice as high as the average for the European industrial and service sectors surveyed.
The effect:
Creative industries are constantly updating their service offerings and developing new solutions. In the creative industries, innovation is not an exception but a central feature of entrepreneurial activity.
The creative industries are reaching high-tech levels—and in some cases exceeding them.86% innovation rate among larger companies
Among creative industries companies with at least ten employees, 86% were actively innovating. This means that, among the sectors compared in the study, the creative industries had the highest proportion of innovators.
For comparison:
- IT and Software: 81%
- Research-intensive industrial sectors: 65 to 78%
- Technical services: 53%
- Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry: 50%
Larger creative industries companies are also at the forefront of research and development: About one in two companies with at least ten employees conducted its own R&D.
The Effect
Creative industries combine creative expertise with systematic development. They are just as innovation- and research-oriented as many technology-intensive economic sectors and constitute a vital part of the Austrian innovation system.
One in five companies creates offerings that did not previously exist in the market.20% introduce new products to the market
20% of all creative industries companies introduced at least one market innovation within three years. Among companies with product innovations, the percentage was even higher: 34% of product innovators were the first to bring at least one product or service to market in their respective markets.
The Effect
Creative industries do more than just improve existing offerings. They create new solutions, open up new applications, and tap into new markets.
46% of creative industries supported their business clients in launching new products, services, or processes.
Nearly one in two companies in the creative industries enables innovation in other companies.46% support their customers’ innovations
The support extends throughout the entire innovation process:
- 58% provide support in the brainstorming process,
- 48% in layout and design,
- 36% in research, development, and design,
- 32% during testing and during production or distribution preparation,
- 57% during market launch or implementation.
A broad spectrum of the economy benefits from these contributions to innovation. Support was particularly frequently provided to companies in the retail, commercial, and industrial sectors. 83% of creative industries primarily provide customized services. Their work is therefore often project-based and closely aligned with the specific challenges of their clients.
The Effect
Creative industries bridge the gap between a good idea and its successful implementation. They combine technical expertise with design, user-centered thinking, communication, and market insight—from concept development to market launch.
Creative industries are among the early adopters of new technologies.91% use innovative technologies
91% of creative industries used innovative products, processes, or technologies developed by other companies.
Particularly common:
- New software applications and Internet technologies: 83%
- New information and communication technologies: 79%
- New materials, equipment, or technical processes: 37%
Digital technologies thus form an essential foundation for the creative industries’ capacity for innovation. The creative industries not only adopt new technologies but also integrate them into creative, economic, and user-oriented applications.
The Effect
Creative industries translate technological possibilities into concrete products, services, content, and business models. They make new technologies applicable for companies, markets, and users.
Creative industries are not just users of new technologies—they drive technological innovation.18% drive the development of new technologies
For 18% of creative industries, technologies or products were specifically developed from scratch or significantly adapted by their suppliers. In addition, nearly half of the companies specifically requested novel technologies or products from their technology partners. The demands of the creative industries lead to the further development of existing technologies and the creation of new applications. In this way, they play an important role as a driving force for technological innovation.
The study therefore describes the creative industries not only as technology-oriented, but also as a testing ground and application laboratory for new technologies.
The Effect
Creative industries drive technological innovation through their demand and their high standards for new solutions. They open up new applications for technologies and help ensure that these are developed in a way that makes them market-ready, application-oriented, and user-centered.
In the creative industries, innovation arises from the interplay of different skills.80% work in collaborative projects
80% of creative industries companies collaborate with other companies to jointly develop and implement services. Collaboration is therefore not the exception, but rather a central form of work and innovation in the creative industries. About one-third of these collaborations are medium- or long-term, while roughly half are project- or event-based. The network partners come primarily from within the creative industries themselves and form flexible, interdisciplinary teams that bring together different areas of expertise depending on the task at hand.
The main reasons for forming partnerships are:
- Pooling capacity to fulfill orders: 77%
- Incorporating missing professional or technical services: 75%
- Providing their own expertise to partners: 74%
- Developing new services together: 50%
The Effect
The innovative strength of the creative industries stems from the interplay of diverse areas of expertise. Collaboration is a key mechanism for innovation in the creative industries: knowledge is shared, different perspectives are brought together, and new solutions are developed collaboratively. As a result, the creative industries become key partners in open, interdisciplinary innovation processes.
Three Success Factors Behind Innovative StrengthThe Innovation DNA of the Creative Industries
The seven key metrics illustrate the innovative performance of the creative industries. Three additional findings explain the basis of this innovative strength: highly qualified talent, close ties to academia, and dynamic knowledge transfer.
30% college graduates
Highly Qualified Talent: Innovation arises where different perspectives come together.
30% of employees in the creative industries hold a college degree—more than twice the average for the Austrian economy. The range of qualifications is broad: slightly more than a quarter of university graduates come from the fields of engineering, economics, and law. At the same time, architecture and design, computer science, and the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences are strongly represented.
The creative industries combine technical, economic, scientific, and creative expertise. This interdisciplinary expertise gives rise to new products, services, and business models.
25% collaborate with the scientific community
Close scientific collaborations: Research has an impact when it finds its way to the market.
About a quarter of creative industries companies collaborate with universities and research institutions. The creative industries are also among the leading sectors when it comes to research and innovation partnerships with the academic community.
Close collaboration facilitates the transfer of new scientific findings, methods, and technologies into practice.
Creative industries bridge the gap between science and business. They open up new areas of application for research and make innovations economically viable.
30% work with independent experts
Dynamic Knowledge Transfer: Knowledge moves with people.
30% of companies in the creative industries work with freelancers. The project-based approach and high level of professional mobility ensure that knowledge, experience, and new methods are continuously shared between companies and across industries. 75% of departing employees move to other companies, and just under 10% start their own businesses. In this way, skills and innovative ideas spread far beyond individual companies.
Creative industries accelerate the transfer of knowledge within the innovation system. Innovation spreads not only through projects and collaborations, but above all through people.
The study “The Contribution of the Creative Industries to the Innovation System: The Case of Austria” was conducted in 2008 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research and the Center for European Economic Research on behalf of Kreativwirtschaft Austria. It examines the creative industries’ own innovation performance as well as their impact on innovation in other sectors of the economy. An abridged version of the study was published in the Third Austrian Creative Industries Report by Kreativwirtschaft Austria. The study is available upon request from KAT at kreativwirtschaft@wko.at.