The creative industries are a major contributor to the innovative capacity of the Netherlands. Often in close collaboration with other sectors, they strengthen the competitiveness of the Dutch economy. They also make a significant contribution to solving societal challenges. Intensifying international competition and increasing digitalization mean that innovation and differentiation will become even more important in the future. The creative industries are characterised by their strong ability to think outside the box by focusing on the user, adopting a forward-thinking mindset and rapidly adapting new technologies. This not only translates into innovative products and services, but also innovative business and revenue models.
Together with other sectors, the contributions of the creative industries to solving societal challenges are so extensive that this is already the fifth edition of the Crossover Works book. I’ll admit that I personally avoid using the term ‘crossovers’, I prefer to call them ‘exceptional collaborations’. Fortunately, these are not limited to the creative industries, but this sector does it particularly well. The contributions that designers can make to Smart Industry or the collaboration between the dance sector and innovative start-ups in the Open-House project are examples which connect to the projects in this book that we as the Ministry of Economic Affairs are directly involved with.
The fifth instalment in this series once again highlights great examples of cross-sectoral projects in a variety of areas from which wonderful innovations have emerged. It’s concrete evidence that the creative industries rightly deserve to be called a top sector!
Bertholt Leeftink
Director-General Enterprise & Innovation Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs