88. Need for an ‘Integrated Policy Design’ and ‘Design Policy’ for India’s ‘Creative Economy’

This paper highlights why an Integrated Policy Design (IPD) is a need to flourish India’s Creative Economy (CE). The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) significantly contributed to the economy and trade in post-industrial societies. Advanced economies leveraged ‘creativity’ as an integrating feature in designing cohesive public policies, instrumental in reaping the combined economic benefits. The ‘Design’ sector is the distinguishing factor in developed nation-states like the UK, USA, Japan, and South Korea, with BRICS nations like Brazil and China joining the emphasis. In contrast, India is one of the oldest civilizations and the most populous democracy, rich in sociocultural diversities, living traditions, and intangible cultural heritage, modern information and communication technology professions with contemporary culture-based practices such as ‘Do-it-yourself,’ and social media content creation should have leveraged inherent cultural treasure with emerging creative trends. However, the critical challenge is that fragmented CCIs operate in isolated sectors, impeding Creativity Gestalt. Despite this institutional challenge, it lacks a coherent vision of what a comprehensive CE for India would mean. This paper underlines vital facets of CE conceptualized in Florida’s 3T model and advocates for a creativity-centered Design Policy inclusive of Education, Innovation systems, CCIs, and ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ that complement global advocacy for IPD.