Cultural and Creative Industry Clusters
The Cultural and Creative Industry Clusters were set up as a measure aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the sectors under review within the framework of the Planning and Budget Office of the Uruguayan Presidency´s Competitiveness Enhancement Plan. Relevant factors to be taken into account are the companies´ degree of innovation, the institutional environment and the clusters´ capacity to become part of a value chain.
The objectives of each cluster are as follows:
1) Music cluster (2011-): Boost initiatives for association, develop the institutional structure, improve the sector´s position on the national market and transform it into an export sector. The enhancement of human resources, technological modernization, the development of entrepreneurial skills and the support of development initiatives for new products and markets are also part of the objectives. With the participation of leading private institutions of the music sector and public institutions.
$338,650.00 worth of funding have been provided. (http://www.clusterdemusica.com.uy)
2) Publishing Cluster (2009-): Create a strategic differential, which might help to improve its presence on both the domestic and international markets. Furthermore the cluster will provide a more adequate environment for the use of the opportunities new technologies generate. It will be an important asset for the enhancement of competitiveness that a framework for trust building is established, that spaces for interaction are strengthened and that a common identity of the sectors´ actors is developed. Therefore prority should be given to supporting contacts between companies, institutions, experts, creators and researchers in the editing sphere. The cluster works as a tool to facilitate these processes.
$274,650.00 worth of funding have been provided.
(http://www.mec.gub.com.uy/innovaportal/v/4363/8/mecweb/conglomerados creativos?3colid=690)
3) Design Cluster(2009 -): Integrate design into the Uruguayan productive sector by promoting established and emerging companies and design studios at the local and international level and byproviding technical support to prestigious design studios on the market. The cluster also tries to further the design culture in Uruguay and to raise company awareness for design, the support of entrepreneurs to access financing and the development of sector-oriented public policies.
4) Audiovisual cluster (2008-): Its objectives vary according to its subsectors (film, publicity and production services, animation, video games and an independant television). Among the general objectives the creation of an institutional framework capable of uniting and representing all subsectors involved is paramount, although progress towards a public-private relationship for the optimization and specialization of resources, the promotion of cross-references between the audiovisual sector and the banking system for the modernization and access to financing instruments, the support for specialized training (marketing, distribution and sales), the creation of a structure which would promote Uruguayan audiovisual projects, and the generation of a structure designed to promote audiovisual works, which may act as an element to attract investments to this sector, are important.
$900,000.00 worth of funding have been provided.
(Uruguay Film Commission & Promotion Office, UFC&PO) (Audiovisual Cluster. Competitiveness Enhancement Plan, February 2008).
Challenges identified in the implementation of this measure:
The clusters consider the harmonization of the specific conditions and interests of their subsectors to be the main challenge for their implementation.
The clusters are the result of the coordination of leading private companies of each area and the government so as to define specific policies, which target the cultural sectors. They are based on the state´s capability to further economic development by promoting the coordination between companies, research institutes and other private and government institutions.
1) Music and Publishing Clusters: They are set up by the Creative Industries Department of the Ministry of Education and Culture´s National Directorate of Culture as part of the "Viví Cultura" project, while their ongoing work is funded by the national budget. It relies on the technical support of the Clusters and Production Chains Programme (PACC- DIPRODE- OPP). "Viví Cultura" contributed technical and financial resources to the preparation of a strategic plan, which was to represent the area and was drawn up on the basis of the protagonists´ participation in workshops and meetings during the formation of the clusters. It supports the participation of the publishing cluster in national and international fairs.
2) Design and Audiovisual Clusters: In both cases the public initiative for dynamization is part of the Clusters and Productive Chains Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (IDB. Loan 1763 / OC – UR), for which they are selected. The programme´s activities start with the election of a managing group of private sector delegates and a support group of public sector delegates, all of whom have to be committed to a participatory strategic planning process. Together they choose a facilitator (coordinator) as well as national and international consultants to support them during the preparation of their strategic plan.
As soon as the cluster has a strategic plan agreed by consensus the programme cofinances the projects presented by companies and/or institutions which share in the plan through non-refundable contributions.
US$1,513,300.00
As to the Publishing and Music clusters the positive effects of the visualization of these sectors as providers of employment and exports are highlighted.
Regarding the Audiovisual cluster the work of the Uruguayan Film Commission & Promotion Office (http://www.uruguayfilmcommission.com.uy) was emphasized.
With regard to the Design cluster no in-depth information concerning this aspect has been made available.