George Washington Law School's Creative and Innovative Economy Center (CIEC) is now operating, to "conduct[] research and educational activities regarding the market, business strategy, institutional, globalization, and localization characteristics of creativity and innovation in the world economy." Its focus is international, working through six programs:

* bio-medical and information technology innovation;
* drugs and health security;
* informational and cultural creativity;
* public policy, administration, and international diplomacy;
* enforcement, judiciary, and dispute settlement;
* trademark and brand management.

Director Michael Ryan "has served on the faculties of the University of Michigan School of Business and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and School of Business. He is author of Knowledge Diplomacy: Global Competition and the Politics of Intellectual Property (1998). He received his Ph.D. [in economics] from the University of Michigan."

An informative interview with Ryan appeared in IP-Watch. Excerpt:

The language ‘creativity and innovation’ is actually language we were quite deliberate about. And that is that we’re very interdisciplinary intellectually [between business and law]. … Growth economists teach us that if you want a high growth economy, it only comes in one way, and that is by having innovation and creativity in your economy. You also have to have stable macroeconomics. To give you an example, I was speaking with the health minister of Botswana a couple of weeks ago, and she said, ‘our government [is] praised within Africa, internally and externally, because we’re one of the most stable governments, but our growth is anaemic.’ And I said, growth economics can immediately answer that question: you’re not integrating technology, innovation and creativity into your economy. By contrast, look at the more or less 10 percent growth that’s been going on in China for the last 20 years. They have been integrating technology into their economy. That’s like the grounding for our centre. Let’s study creativity and innovation in developing countries, let’s try to come to a much better understanding of what are the legal and policy and the institutional, meaning social institutions, educational institutions, and then what are the sort of market and business issues that are associated with encouraging more creativity and innovation in your economy.

posted by James DeLong @ 11:27 AM | International

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