The Coronation Challenge
mapping out the role of tertiary education in driving pioneering technologies and skills to accelerate the growth of the UK creative industries sector
About the project
The Coronation Challenge brings together the 2023 winners of The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes, the highest national Honour in education (to be announced by the Royal Anniversary Trust on the 16th of November), to explore how emerging technologies can accelerate the growth of the UK’s Creative Industries sector – with a particular focus on the key role of tertiary education in driving innovation. This year-long research initiative, developed by The Royal Anniversary Trust in partnership with The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is part of the UK Government’s 2023 Sector Vision initiative, a landmark investment to stimulate growth in the Creative Industries sector which includes: advertising and marketing; architecture; crafts; design and fashion; film, TV, video, radio and photography; creative tech; publishing; museums, galleries and libraries; and music, performing and visual arts.
The Challenge will build on almost a decade of research into CreaTech - the area where the creative industries meet technology. Previous research in this field includes mapping the CreaTech sector to better understand the opportunities behind specific technologies and the skills needed to support technology-enabled and inclusive growth, proposing policy initiatives and incentives to support increased research and development in this area, and public outreach by industry bodies. Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) institutions have also led research projects to understand the relationship between tech and the wider creative sector, notably the Brighton and North East Fuse programmes, as well as UKRI funded programmes like the Creative Industries Clusters Programme.
The Challenge group will look at the work to date, as well as exploring the future needs of HE and FE institutions to support growth in their local and national creative sectors and - more broadly – to achieve greater economic, social and environmental impact.
This work will be supported by cutting edge research combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, led by a team of Creative Industry experts convened by Erskine Analysis, with the aim of providing a roadmap to sustainable, equitable growth in the Creative Industries sector driven by the UK’s world-leading HE and FE institutions. This project represents a unique opportunity for industry, tertiary education and policy leaders to work together towards a suite of initiatives that benefit everyone working in the rapidly evolving area of technology and innovation in the UK’s Creative Industries.
The team
To work on this project Erskine Analysis has brought together a team of experts. This includes:
Eliza Easton - Eliza Easton is a creative industries expert and is the founder of the sector focussed think tank Erskine Analysis. Before starting this new initiative, Eliza spent five years as Head of Policy and then Deputy Director of the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) – an £8m Government and AHRC funded research and policy centre based at Nesta.
Dr. George Windsor - Dr. George Windsor is a research director, strategist, and advisor specialising in tech, and labour market dynamics. George’s journey in research started as an academic, working on a PhD on migration and entrepreneurship in the UK, supported by Loughborough University and Paragon Law. George then worked at Nesta, before launching, growing and heading up the research team at Tech Nation. He is currently working with Notion Capital, and a range of data and research organisations (including Beauhurst, Systemic Innovation, Extend Ventures, and Newfound Global). Find George on X and LinkedIn.
Dr. Allan Watson - Allan Watson is Reader in Economic Geography at Loughborough University. Allan’s research focuses on the creative and media industries, and he has led research and knowledge-transfer projects funded by a range of organisations including Innovate UK, Research Councils UK, the British Academy and the Royal Geographical Society. Find Allan on X and LinkedIn.
Tom Webster - Tom Webster is a quantitative researcher with deep sector knowledge of the emerging technology sector. His experience was honed at Tech Nation where he identified growth opportunities in specific sectors and analysed the global competitiveness of the UK’s technology sector. Here he also identified market failures, and highlighted interventions to further the growth of the UK’s digital economy. Find Tom on LinkedIn.
Get in touch
This is a project which will be guided in the first instance by the 2023 winners of The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes - however, we are also keen to hear from industry and policy experts on CreaTech over the course of our research. If you would like to speak to a member of the team about getting involved please email Eliza@ErskineAnalysis.com.
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