The ekip project

The ekip project

This is where ekip (European Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Policy Platform) comes in, a project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme. The project, led by Charlotte Lorentz Hjorth from Lund University, is coordinated for the Design Department by Valentina Auricchio with Vanessa Monna and Luisa Maria Virginia Collina, and involves many other researchers from the Department: Stefana Maja Broadbent, Chiara Colombi, Andrea Giuseppe Manciaracina, Silvia D'Ambrosio, Marzia Mortati, Silvia Deborah Ferraris, Paola Bertola, Erminia D’Itria and Francesco Zurlo.

The aim of ekip is to support the development of policies that establish open innovation processes as a new standard, ensuring that support ecosystems can cultivate the capacity to manage complex multi-stakeholder innovation processes. These processes are essential for achieving greater innovation within European CCIs and driving behavioural change towards a greener, more inclusive and digital Europe.

The ekip Observatory

As of 1 June 2023, the Design Department of the Politecnico di Milano is responsible for the development of the ekip Observatory, a new digital platform for innovation policies for CCIs. The ekip Observatory acts as a central interface for the dissemination of innovation policies and as a repository for knowledge production, integrating the Knowledge Bank and providing policy recommendations based on concrete data.

Functions and Activities of the ekip Observatory:

Digital Platform: The platform communicates results and ensures stakeholder engagement through knowledge sharing.

• Data Collection: Uses social media listening, trend forecasting and desk research techniques to understand the needs and profiles of CCI users.
• Knowledge Translation: Converts collected data into communicative formats such as graphs and infographics for wider and more accessible dissemination.
• Policy Recommendations Mapping: Collection and analysis of over 354 policy recommendations from EU-funded projects to create an accessible repository for stakeholders.

The "ekip engine”

At the heart of the project is the 'ekip engine', a model focused on specific intervention areas where personalised co-creation develops engagement strategies. This approach aims to raise awareness, educate stakeholders, gather feedback, facilitate dialogue, influence decision-making and empower participants to actively participate in policy-making for positive social change.

The ekip engine divides the innovation process into five main phases:

1. Identification, Prioritisation and Exploration of Intervention Areas

In these phases, potential intervention areas are identified through a variety of data collection methods, literature review, case study collection, expert interviews, policy reccommendation mapping, social listening and policy corners. These methods allow the identification of the most relevant challenges and opportunities for CCIs, based on concrete data and stakeholder feedback.

The ekip Observatory plays a key role in these phases, acting as a knowledge collector and integrator. Its role is to support all partners in the final dissemination of the content produced by the ekip engine. Knowledge is gathered through three main tools:

• Policy Corners: Direct meetings with stakeholders to identify needs and challenges.
• Social Media Listening: Analysis of online conversations to identify trends in relevant policy areas.
• Policy Recommendation Mapping: Analysis of existing policies in CCIs to avoid redundancy and build on existing experience.

The Observatory does not merely collect data but integrates knowledge from the various phases of the ekip engine, transforming it into visual communication tools such as infographics and Policy Posters. A preliminary list of data sets and reports has already been produced, and the next steps involve sharing and prototyping materials with stakeholders, as well as integrating the Knowledge Bank and identifying strategies for knowledge dissemination and active engagement of open innovation actors.

2. Policy Formulation

Once the intervention areas are identified, the next step is policy formulation through inclusive and interdisciplinary Policy Labs. These labs involve experts, researchers, institutional and business representatives, as well as citizens, in a co-creation process.
The results are synthesized in "Policy Posters," visual documents that clearly present the challenges and opportunities of each intervention area, facilitating discussion and strategy development.

The resulting policy recommendations are then tested in urban ecosystems, providing tangible indications of how to implement policies as innovation tools.

3. Outreach

The final phase involves sharing the strategic recommendations formulated through the ekip engine, as well as participating in various events across Europe. The LIEPT (Lund Innovation Ecosystems Portfolio Tracking) model is used to monitor the effect of policies implemented in different innovation ecosystems.

This step is crucial to ensure that the developed policies are scalable and implementable on a large scale.

Project Results

The ekip project has already produced several significant results:

• Strategic Recommendations: Formulated through Policy Labs and tested in urban ecosystems, these recommendations provide concrete guidance on how to implement innovation policies. For example, solutions have been proposed to improve access to funding for small creative businesses and to promote collaborations between different CCI sectors.
• Digital Platform: The ekip Observatory aggregates data, monitors trends, and provides policy recommendations specific to different CCI sectors. The platform is designed to allow stakeholders to access information on emerging trends, behavioral changes, and best practices in CCIs.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Over 40 networks and CCI organizations across Europe are actively involved in the project, contributing to data collection, policy formulation, and dissemination of recommendations.

Future Prospects

Looking ahead, ekip will continue to strengthen collaboration among the various CCI actors, promoting innovation through targeted policies. The next steps include:

• Integration of New Technologies:
  ekip plans to integrate new technologies to further improve data collection and analysis. For example, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning can help identify emerging trends and predict behavioral changes more accurately.
• Dissemination of Policy Recommendations:
  The project will continue to organize events and workshops to share policy recommendations with a broader audience. This includes participating in international conferences and collaborating with other European and global initiatives. Policy Posters will be key tools for communicating policy recommendations clearly and immediately.
• Support for Green and Digital Transformation:
  ekip will work to promote a green, inclusive, and digital transformation, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For example, the ekip innovation policy engine could suggest how local innovation ecosystems can use policies to support the development of new textile and apparel products equipped with informational labels, thereby facilitating circular and recycling processes.

Additionally, the analysis of "New Jobs" in CCIs has already identified emerging professional figures, such as the AI Artist and Design Technologist, which require new support and training policies.