The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) is urging Creatives to participate in its Creative Voices Survey. 

The survey, which was launched on March 20, is being done in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for a project to do an economic impact assessment of the creative and cultural industries.

“We’re looking to understand the impact of the creative and cultural industries on our GDP, our employment, on the social sector and the specific value, which we don’t know for sure. We’re looking to find out how many persons are engaged or employed, whether on a part-time basis or full-time basis,” said Harold Davis, deputy chief executive officer (CEO) at the JBDC.

He said that the survey will initially run for two months, and the organisation is looking to garner support from the creative practitioners and creative industry players. 

Arguing that the survey should bridge the gaps that currently exist on how reports are done on the creative industries, Davis said, “Right now, in our reporting of our GDP, we don’t have a line that specifically speaks of the industry. When STATIN does its report on an annual basis it tends to be subsumed under services or under tourism. Going forward, the Government can properly assess the movement of the value of the contribution to the economy and against investments and things of that nature.”

He pointed out that members of the creative and cultural industries will also be able to have bargaining power when they do pitches for garnering investments. 

“When doing their pitches for partnerships, investments and things of that nature, they have something that they can definitively refer to. Our tagline for the survey is ‘Creative voices, let your voice be heard’. It is time that our creatives are able to articulate very clearly the value of their contribution to the economy,” Davis said.

He emphasised that the survey results will help creatives market themselves, both locally and internationally.

“You’ll now be in a stronger position to negotiate for resources, partnership, marketing opportunities, both locally and internationally – locally, with your financial institutions, with other institutions and with investors. Externally, when you’re going into a market and you’re looking to establish partnership relationships, you will have a clear value that you can articulate, of your potential contribution,” said Davis.

Industry associations such as the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA) and Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) are encouraged to get their members to participate and assist the JBDC with collating the information. 

“Wherever the clusters are of creatives, we’re partnering with them to make sure that persons understand that this survey, this activity, this product, is for you,” said Davis.

Student creatives from the various training institutions, persons from film, TV, media, music, video games, heritage, fashion, design, writing, visual arts, theatre, and more are being encouraged to participate in the survey by visiting the JDBC offices, website and all its social media platforms.

Persons may access the survey at the following link, Creative Voices Survey.

The JBDC is aiming to produce the results in May/June of this year. 

Read related stories at the links below:

JBDC embarks on US$72,000 project to strengthen Jamaica’s cultural and creative industries

MSBM, JBDC sign strategic partnership to boost entrepreneurship

Send feedback to [email protected]