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Creative industries

Boosting the UK’s creative sector by unlocking the transformative potential of advanced digital technologies.

The UK’s Creative Legacy

The creative industries encompass a broad range of sectors, from advertising to gaming, crafts to fashion, music and the visual arts. Having long been the backbone of our economy, contributing £115 billion to the UK, these sectors are growing at a rate five times faster than average, and the UK’s strong creative heritage is recognised worldwide.

Key priorities for the creative industries

In 2023, the Conservative government set ambitious plans to drive growth, develop skills and build talent across the creative economy.  Our new Labour government have also  acknowledged how much the creative industries contribute not just to our national identity but also to economic growth; they have committed that creative skills won’t be treated as luxury but a necessity. 

Recent boosts in funding are helping to create new jobs, establish advanced screen and performance technology research labs across different regions, support local creative clusters, and nurture future talent through creative careers initiatives. Digital Catapult sits at the heart of efforts around the UK to achieve these ambitious growth plans, ensuring a sustainable future for the sector through a number of key areas: 

  • The potential of artificial intelligence (AI): AI has the potential to significantly transform the creative industries by enhancing human creativity, improving productivity and democratising access to creative resources. However, challenges remain, including ethical considerations, data privacy, and copyright infringement. 
  • The road to sustainability: Sustainability isn’t just an ethical choice; it’s a strategic imperative for the creative industries. By embracing sustainable practices, the sector can contribute to collectively reduce carbon emissions and minimise waste in creative processes and workflows.
  • The power of deep tech for storytelling: The upskilling of the creative workforce is vital for professionals to thrive in the current dynamic and competitive landscape as well as to inspire them to develop next generation content and experiences across devices.

Digital Catapult capabilities

Digital Catapult supports the UK creative industries by enabling new innovation opportunities that leverage deep tech in a responsible and sustainable way through:

  1. Testbeds and facilities: Our network of Advanced Media Production studios in London and Gateshead enables UK creatives to learn about virtual production, test new production workflows and real time immersive experiences – learn more how to use our studios here. We also have 5G testbed facilities around the country for experimentation and exploration with advanced digital technologies to develop new connected audience experiences or fan engagement.
  2. Consultancy services and proof of concepts (PoCs) development: We guide and support businesses with responsible adoption of AI, demonstrating the potential of AI across different creative processes and operations and ensuring the adoption is safe, sustainable and ethical. Moreover, we develop new and innovative content experiences that leverage the convergence of XR technology and AI to engage, entertain or educate audiences – read the KAI Case Study 
  3. Innovation services: we invite organisations to partner with us on innovation programmes such our recent Black Founders Programme with Sony UK where we supported UK black founders who are under-represented when it comes to investment – find out more about the Black Founder Programme. We are also collaborating with Merlin Entertainment, Bauer Media Group, LADbible and Music Tech UK on our BridgeAI programme where we are supporting the adoption of AI across the Creative Industries.
  4. Upskilling: Through our skills foresighting work we also provide support for businesses to help plan for the impact of new technologies and future workflows through workshops, training and upskilling.

Read the case studies here:

Who we work with

We have worked with large games companies, entertainment venues and production studios to drive investment into digital technology research, development and innovation specifically for the creative industries.

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