Scotland

Enabling Creativity: A Future for Technology?

Graeme Downie - 22.05.2012

I am sure we all have experience of news articles telling us that there is a new bit of technology guaranteed to make our lives in to some kind of Utopian existence.  The new gadget to save you time, the new home appliance to halve the amount of work you need to do.  And yet, technology is also sometimes thought of as a nuisance, something that interferes rather than helps.

For example, I am always slightly reminded of watching Back to the Future II when I was younger and loving the hover cars.  Watching it now, however, they make mention of traffic jams - so much for the bright new future! 

However, the world is undoubtedly becoming more reliant on technology but how can that be done in a way that actually does help us?  Well, first, let's forget about a silver bullet piece of technology that will cure all the world's ills, or even some of them.  Technology is still reliant on people using it.

At Nesta, we are looking at how technology can help in areas such as the economy and public services.  Instead of looking at a smart piece of kit we are looking at how people interact with technology and how it can be enabling and interactive rather than just concentrating on the technology itself.

In public services for example, how can we ensure that real information from patients and staff is fed back effectively to make services better in the future?  Evaluations of services, for example, often focus on empirical data collected by independent auditors or from cold numbers, not information directly from users about how they feel they were actually treated.  In this area, technology can be used both as a way to encourage a more equal relationship, with services being provided for people rather than done to them.

Creativity is a skill which disrespects boundaries, you can be creative anywhere.  Technology allows people to be creative much more easily.  Apps such as Draw Something have encouraged people to make basic artwork in a way they might not have thought to do using older applications such as Paint in Microsoft Windows (although I am sure the element of competition introduced by the game helps!).  People haven't been forced to use this technology, rather they have chosen to for their own interest and enjoyment.

Technology also has massive economic potential, not just in the development of new gadgets but also to encourage collaboration between different sectors in the economy and different geographies.  Previously, it would have been rare for, say, top universities in the US to be able to interact effectively with budding entrepreneurs in the Highlands of Scotland.  Technology has enabled this to happen virtually but also led to closer links allowing more in-depth such as through Highland & Islands Enterprise's Entrepreneurship Development Program.

Over the next few months, the Nesta team in Scotland will be making a number of announcements showing how technology can better connect different sectors as well as how it can increase interest, broaden access and bring communities together.  We hope that these pieces of work will show that whilst technology cannot deliver Utopia, it can help bring people together.