Creative economy innovation leads the way

The John Adams Innovation Institute tracks Massachusetts “innovation economy” against other leading technology states. The recently published 2007 Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy shows Massachusetts remains one of the global hotbeds of innovative activity, attracting research investments from industry and government.

The occupational category of innovation worker that is outpacing all others? Arts & Media, with an average five year growth rate of 5.2%. Next is Life, Physical and Social Sciences at 2.7%. This signifies the importance of the creative economy, public relations and online and offline content industries to the innovation economy.

Our stereotype of creative activity is the starving artist, painting in the basement; or the depressed poet, writing somewhere out in the woods. But the forms of creativity that make a big economic impact are complex, organized, and collaborative. Creative works such as textbooks, software programs, education modules, course ware, web tools, databases, videos, and a host of other non-traditional forms of intellectual property too often go unnoticed and untapped in tech transfer offices that are chasing the next high-tech “big winner.”