Staff members involved: Andy C Pratt, Dr Ros Gill| (Gender Institute)
This project explores the spatial and organisational dimensions of business location in the e-society. It examines the question of whether distance and location will cease to matter, or whether they may indeed matter more in an e-society. It explores for the first time, the digital content industry, which it is argued provides an actually existing example of e-society business activity. Insights gained here will be a reliable bell-weather from which to scale impacts in other industries.
Whilst 'clusters' have become the sine qua non of regional development and national competition policy surprisingly little is know about their incidence and dynamics, either in general, or specifics. This research proposes to look and a number of actually existing 'digital clusters' in three contrasting, but apparently closely related, industries: film and television special effects, computer games and web design. The central argument is that cluster form and performance will vary by the different modes of organisation of work common to particular industries, and with the dominant institutional player in the industry.
At the level of the individual cluster we are keen to go beyond the description of agglomeration and proximity. We will look at the actual relations existing between companies. We explore not only traded transactions but also non-traded ones; likewise we are interested in networks criss-crossing firms that firms are embedded in.
Objectives: To provide an empirical survey of seven e-clusters (specifically, those in the digital content industries)
To examine the significance of different location factors for these firms.
To explore extra-firm interactions and networks with particular attention to the transfer of tacit knowledge and 'soft' information
To highlight the similarities and differences within the digital content industries
To examine the tendency to clustering in these industries and to consider whether this represents a continuity or discontinuity with past experiences.
Specifically, the project will explore the nature of the firms and their networks. We argue that the particular nature of the organisation of production, product and market leads to the development of particular institutional forms; thus, we need to select particular industries. The project examines three contrasting industries all at the leading edge of adoption and use of digital technologies: the computer games industry, the TV and film post-production and special effects industry, and the web design/full service companies. In each case we examine two contrasting clusters of these activities in different locations. The survey will be the most comprehensive of its kind carried out for these industries. Our case studies are in Dundee, Liverpool, Bristol, Brighton and London; plus Los Angeles
The project will provide the first 'inside view' of key digital content clusters and industries. It will contribute to our understanding of general business location patterns, and the specifics of digital content industries. Second, it will provide three contrasting perspectives of different industries that make up the digital content industries. It is the view of the researchers that caution is needed in extrapolating from specific industries to all industries. This research will provide the best insight, thus far, into the actually existing trends in industries both rich in ICT use and digital content. It will provide answers to the issue of clustering and digital industries, and what the nature of cluster interaction is. These questions have relevance for specific industrial policy, and wider urban and social policy. In one respect this will provide the extreme outlier of all industries, however, it will be based upon actually existing experiences and not speculation. As such, it should allow researchers to more successfully sketch in broader impacts in the 'wake' of these pioneer industries.
This research is funded by ESRC for the period January 2005 through July 2006.
The ERSC grant is for £90,000. Research assistant to be appointed.