View: UK & India innovators explore CreaTech transformations

UK & Indian Innovators Explore CreaTech Transformations

By Shivangi Ambani, DIT

Technology has disrupted and transformed the way creative content is created, distributed and consumed. And yet, this technology can also be leveraged to build new business models and revenue streams.

Six such UK creative businesses joined the December 2018 CreaTech trade mission to the India-UK FutureTech Festival at a time of rapid growth for creative sectors in both countries.

UK creative industries made a record £101.5bn contribution to the UK economy in 2017, having grown much faster than the UK economy as a whole.  Meanwhile, India's media and entertainment sector is estimated to contribute £17.6bn in 2017 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.6 percent to reach £24 billion by 2020 - which is faster growth than that of India's GDP.

The Festival was a thought leadership summit under the formal India-UK Technology Partnership, organised by the UK Government in India in collaboration with UK and Indian tech innovators, companies and organisations. It took place on December 12 at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi, with key themes exploring how we work, live and play.

Two of the participating UK creative companies announced significant partnerships in India. Centroid UK has set up a Motion Capture facility at one of Mumbai’s most iconic advertising & film studios, Famous Studios. Logically announced its entry into India, offering AI technology to assess the credibility of news coverage, to be deployed during the Indian general elections.

The tech-led transformation of the creative industries was a key topic in the PLAY strand, and a panel discussion with six creative businesses from India and the UK showcased how they have tapped into cutting-edge technology to drive their business and transform the wider industry.

This session included speakers from companies like Mahindra Racing, the Formula E racing team, which talked about its use of immersive tech to create a compelling campaign.

VTime showcased its virtual reality social network that allows anyone, anywhere to spend quality time with family and friends in virtual reality.

Logically talked about the important work it will be doing with Indian news media and platforms in the run-up up to the country's general elections.

Meanwhile, Virtual Presence showed how its 3D holograms take live experiences to multiple locations at the same time.

Kycker is also planning to bring its platform to India. The company provides an integrated digital hub and a career management tool for independent artists to become a sustainable music business.

The CreaTech delegation was part of a wider group of delegations comprising over 50 UK businesses that attended the festival and joined trade missions to other Indian cities to explore business and collaboration opportunities.

Other businesses that joined the trade mission and met Indian business counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai, included Igloo Vision, which designs, develops and delivers immersive 360° projection domes and projection cylinders to create shareable VR experiences; and Paragon Creative - a leading international creative design and build company which has provided services such as theming, fit-out, model-making and interactive for museums, theme parks, visitor attractions and other clients in more than 26 countries.

The FutureTech Festival was announced in April 2018 by Indian Prime Minister Modi and UK Prime Minister May as a major initiative under the India-UK Technology Partnership.

The partnership brings together business, government and civil society from both India and the UK to tackle shared challenges (across energy, skills, ease of doing business and financial services) and deliver mutual prosperity by nurturing entrepreneurship, securing jobs and growth for the future.

Shivangi Ambani is Senior Sector Manager, Creative & Consumer India, Department for International Trade

@tradegovukIND

#GREATfor Collaboration   #FutureTechFest

Related:

UK and India sign tech partnership