SME Creative – How to adequately foster innovation?

Together with Prognos AG, Multiplicities analyses funding models in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) that support creative innovations in medium-sized enterprises.

The increasingly important role of the cultural and creative industries in many other industrial sectors is widely recognised. While large companies have long been pursuing innovative approaches in their own creative departments, business development is faced with the question of how the positive effects and innovation potential of the creative industries can also be made possible for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In an accompanying analysis, Multiplicities interviewed participants and organisers of relevant funding programmes in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and was able to identify success factors by integrating international comparisons. Funding programmes that adhere to central quality criteria are particularly successful in intensifying cross-sectoral cooperation between the cultural and creative industries and other sectors. For example, stable and long-term alliances can grow more effectively if funding programmes are embedded in the wider ecosystem of design and industry, such as universities. In addition, basic factors such as personal mutual trust and awareness of the requirements of different industries are fundamental criteria for success, which can be promoted and sustained through specific measures. The regular exchange of information on obstacles in the region and beyond is just as positive as public awards for successful projects.
The study shows how the public sector can enable small and medium-sized enterprises to build bridges in order to be economically successful by means of innovative solutions and innovative collaborations.