The Creative Economy

The creative economy considers creativity an output that intersects job fields rather than isolated to particular industries. Adopting an ecosystem lens, the creative economy recognizes the connections between fields such as education, arts, culture, and innovation rather than viewing them in isolation. It maps these interdependence as unique drivers of direct and indirect economic outputs.

Adopting this lens leads to a fundamental reassessment of creativity's role in areas ranging from education to industrial design to organizational theory. We use the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) view of the creative economy, which looks at creativity at the occupational level rather than the industry level. This allows us to gain a more accurate understanding of the economic role creativity plays and allows us to better understand how creativity permeates every industry, whether it is in medicine, oil and gas, or technology.