Cultural and Creative Industries Survey Begins February

The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) will be launching an all-industry survey of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in February, to garner comprehensive and empirical data on the sector.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the JBDC, Harold Davis, told JIS News that the launch coincides with the celebration of Reggae Month, which is a product of the creative industry.

“We are so excited about this initiative for many reasons… . In the business of helping creative businesses thrive, it’s very important that we finally have data that can support the development of these businesses at the micro, enterprise, sector and national levels,” said Mr. Davis.

The survey will provide for an economic impact assessment (EIA) of the creative industries, thereby ascertaining its specific value, including the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) and employment, among others.

The initiative is being conducted under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) project, which is geared towards bolstering the country’s cultural and creative industries.

Mr. Davis informed that in preparing for the launch of the survey, a preliminary instrument was designed and a series of consultation sessions held across the island with various stakeholders.

These included individuals within governance and policy, education, industry associations, literature and publishing, film, television, broadcast and digital media, design and fashion, museums and galleries, theatre, dance and performing arts and music.

Mr. Davis indicated that based on the feedback received from those sessions, the survey instrument and the data-mining mechanism were refined.

“For us, this instrument of data mining and data collection has to be owned by the industry. It has to be first populated by the industry practitioners, and we want to make sure that the data is usable not only to government or policy, but also to industry practitioners,” he told JIS News.

Mr. Davis pointed out that countries that have conducted EIAs have found that “immediately, their governments are able to strategically assign specific investments to the sector that they would have, perhaps, been uncomfortable to do prior to doing the assessment”.

Other key stakeholders involved in the project include the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN).

Director of the Economic Accounting Division at STATIN, Paula Jackson, told JIS News that the entity is pleased to be collaborating with the JBDC and the other partners in measuring the CCI, which, she noted “is a very important part of the economy”.

She is urging those who will participate in the survey to provide detailed information, so that the data can be accurately measured.