Richard Florida
Symposium was opened by the keynote speaker Richard Florida, the bestselling author of The Rise of The Creative Class and the more recent The Great Reset.
Creativity, he said, is a fundamental human characteristic and our strongest asset. The Italian-American son of a blue-collar worker defended his theory against his critics, who have accused him of yuppy and gentrification agenda. It's the opposite of what he intends; Florida said that everyone is part of the creative class, not just the cultural elite or designers. In fact, according to Florida, the real and best innovation - one that matters - takes place bottom-up on the factory floor. Therefore, those companies, regions and communities who are able to harness the creative force of everyone from agricultural and factory workers to service sector and business professionals will prevail in the global competion.
As a result, cities, regions and communities are becoming the most economic unity in the world. High-density clusters of people and communities are more creative and innovative than isolated and low-density ones. World is not flat, as others claim. In fact, it's spiky; a select few locations are responsible for the majority of innovation and economic activity. Place still matters and the competitive advantage of the world's most successful regions is growing and disparities are wider than before. Those communities that can attract the best talent, are tolerant and have the technological edge will be dominant. Creative economy is making "Where you live?" the most important decision of your life.
Florida also touched at the theme of his new book, The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity, where he asserts states that bad economic times are the mother of invention. Humans are typically most innovative when times are rough. "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste," he quoted the popular saying. He argued that the current crisis that world is undergoing is part of the most important socio-economical transformation since the 19th century.
Florida compared the situation to the Long Depression of 1870s, out of which the industrial society emerged. Likewise, the period following the Great Depression resulted in creation new lifestyles and standard of living that led to increased demand for cars and household appliances. Now, nations and regions have only limited time to react to the changing situation. However, those that can combine the creative forces of everyone in their industry and service sector will innovate and prevail.
Roundtable discussion on the impact of clusters
A round table discussion continued the theme. It was moderated by TCI President Alberto Pezzi (Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain) and participated by TCI Directors Klaus Haasis (MFG Baden-Württemberg, Germany), Carlos Alvarez (Innovaccion Ltda., Chile) and Amit Kapoor (IFC, India), as well as Mario Girard (Quebec Entrepreneurship Foundation, Canada).
They were very much in line with Florida's thoughts. Clusters are agglomerations of specific expertise and allow creativity to flourish through increased human interaction and proximity. "Sometimes, different cluster participants talk a difference language - the language of science, politics and business," said Haasis. The key is to get everyone listen each other. People and personal connections are the essence, he asserted.
Carlos Alvarez looked at the Chilean experience in retrospective and outlined key issues of succesful cluster policy. In his experience, it facilitates policy integration, establishment of priorities and brings real and effecive value.
Amit Kapoor chastised the obsession for juxtaposition of high-tech vs. low-tech arguments. He found it unneccessary and raised the example of Israel, where demanding agricultural conditions and lack of naturally arable land have resulted in making Israel the world-leader in agricultural technologies. Kapoor also applied the principles of Richard Florida's theory in India, and found similarities with his own research results. More than 80% of Indian economic growth is created by the key cities. "To succeed, regions have to look at what their region is fundamentally about."
Mario Girard, Vice President of Quebec Entrepreneurship Foundation, talked about the issue of fostering entrepreneurial force in a region. In Quebec, the entrepreneurial culture was disappearing. He took the challenge head on by making the weak points visible through figures and indexes. If you wish to assert a specific point, you will need numbers and figures to back your claim, said Girard.
Alberto Pezzi summarized other key learning points: talent is mobilie, combination of all issues is important and every community needs to find its own recipe for success. No region is alike.
21 June 2010
