Creative Informatics: how data driven innovation has transformed the creative workplace

The creative economy is powered by a workforce with a high proportion of freelancers and SMEs. This paper reflects on new ways of working, accelerated by the digital pivot of the creative workplace caused by the global pandemic. Whilst the impact of digital technology on the creative workflow has been well documented, in this paper case studies from Creative Informatics, a five-year R&D project (2019-2024) which supported data driven innovation in the creative economy in Edinburgh and the Southeast of Scotland, highlight how these changes have affected the creative
workplace thus spotlighting how the future creative workplace may change, particularly for freelancers. Using a qualitative case studies approach, this paper reflects on the use of digital technology in the creative workplace by defining a new typology for (digital) creative workplaces: the studio as a place for synchronous and a-synchronous collaboration through the use of VR technology for craft makers (Applied Arts Scotland), the water cooler as a place to support diverse digital networking formats (Creative Edinburgh), and the atelier to support creative business to be introduced to emerging new technologies with low risk through peer learning (E11). The paper analyses how these innovation and developments have opened up opportunities, and raised challenges, for freelancers in particular and identifies directions for future developments in the creative workplace. We argue that the implications for creative freelancers can be applied to the freelancer workforce at large.