<<August 4, 2006>>
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John M. Eger
Van Deerlin Chair of Communication and Public Policy
Executive Director, International Center for Communications
College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive, PFSA 160
San Diego, CA 92182-4522
619-594-6933
619-594-6910
Fax: 619-594-4488
jeger@mail.sdsu.edu
http://www.smartcommunities.org/
http://www.smartcommunities.org/guidebook.html


Dear John:

(1) Many thanks for your another interesting essays (ATTACHMENT I and II).

Dear E-Colleagues:

His last one was;

(06/19/06) (a) John Eger's new two essays, (b) Innovation vs Confucianism and (c) New Book flyer for Tapio Varis' Birthday
http://makeashorterlink.com/?K4822138D

ATTACHMENT I

From: john eger <jeger@mail.sdsu.edu>
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 17:07:56 -0700
To: <Jeger@mail.sdsu.edu>
Subject: I though you might find this of interest

In The News

Can China Let "A Thousand Flowers Bloom" Again?
August 1, 2006 By John Eger

John Eger -- who was telecom advisor to the Nixon White House and visited China in that capacity following Nixon's ground-breaking meeting with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong in 1972 -- recently returned from a 17-day, nine-city tour of China. Eger, a frequent contributor to Government Technology and Public CIO, is president of The World Foundation for Smart Communities and holds the Endowed Van Deerlin Chair in Communications and Public Policy at San Diego State University.

At one point in Chairman Mao's long rein, he launched a short-lived campaign to appease the "intellectuals" and assure them that changes he was implementing were good for the future of China. Called "Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom," the campaign was designed to encourage dissent and dialogue throughout the country. It did, in fact, result in dissent and even protest. Although the so-called elite never seriously entertained the propaganda program, it ended soon and dissent was squelched.

Now China has made it clear over the last several weeks that they are not going to be simply a manufacturing center or sub-assembly and processing factory for other multi-national corporations. Rather, it is staking out new ground as an "Innovation Economy" -- one that makes its money generating new inventions and innovations to existing products, not merely assembling products for others.

To accomplish its goals, the Chinese government will authorize over 70 billion Yuan, or $8.5 billion, for investment in science and technology next year, and every year thereafter. This itself represents an increase of nearly 20 percent annually. The Chinese, however, have more in mind than R&D spending. A huge propaganda campaign is planned to educate the Chinese masses, to include online discussions and the formation of an "innovation demonstration team" to tour the country and promote the idea. The government is also talking of the need to reform the financial and tax systems to provide incentives for the growth of cutting-edge industries.

Not surprisingly, China wants creativity to "bloom" again, as creativity is the key to innovation. This, however, calls for a climate where freedom and openness are commonplace. Ironically -- despite its continuing efforts to intimidate foreign news organizations, and agreements with Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to block access to certain Web sites -- China is now looking for ways to encourage creativity and innovation.

Factory 798, just outside of Beijing, for example, is unique because it is the only corner of Beijing to be "transformed by artists," according to the China Daily, an official English-language publication of the Chinese government. "798 could become a model for the alternative way to develop cities," said the publication.

The Factory was originally designed to turn out subassembly and other strategic electronic components. It is now evolving into a hub of cultural and artistic activities and attracting cultural and urban elites from virtually every point on the planet. Some galleries even poke fun at the damage that Mao created with his so-called "cultural revolution."

One painting on the wall makes clear that the pen is mightier than the sword and says in effect "there can be no innovative, creative economy without art." Elsewhere artists and gallery owners make clear that art can only survive in an environment of freedom. It is clear in Factory 798 and other galleries -- and importantly, at universities throughout China -- that there cannot be an innovative economy unless there are significant changes in China's attitude toward the cultural and creative side of life.

In cities across China there is hope again that the repressive measures of the past are completely gone -- and that new policies will allow a greater freedom for all to enjoy art and culture and life itself. It is not at all clear, however, that China can have both a rigid policy for controlling the creative human spirit and a so-called "innovative" economy.
 
Copyright® 2005 e.Republic, Inc. All rights reserved.
eRepublic, Inc. 100 Blue Ravine Rd., Folsom, CA 95630

--
John M. Eger
Van Deerlin Chair of Communication and Public Policy
Executive Director, International Center for Communications
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
PFSA 160
San Diego, CA
92182-4522
telephone 6195946910

ATTACHMENT II

From: john eger <jeger@mail.sdsu.edu>
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 12:44:15 -0700
To: <Jeger@mail.sdsu.edu>
Subject: I thought you might find the attached of interest

In The News

America in the Creative and Innovative Economy
Aug 03, 2006  By John Eger

If America does capture the high ground in this latest effort to lead the world economy ... it will do so because the hearse is now at the back door of our current economic situation.

Most economists now seem to agree that the emerging so-called "creative and innovative" economy represents America's salvation. Given that "the world is flat" -- as author and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has pointed out in a book by the same name -- this new thinking encourages America once again to do things it does best: "create and innovate."

"The game is changing, Business Week magazine recently argued, "It isn't just about math and science anymore (Although those are surely important disciplines) It's about creativity, imagination, and, above all, innovation."

Apple Computer's iPod is often cited as an example of the kind of innovation most people are talking about. Providing easy, legal access to lots of songs (iTunes) was something no one had yet managed. It was not simply making a slick piece of hardware; it was the design of a whole system that made Apple the leader of the innovation economy.

Similarly, Business Week points out it wasn't Edison's development of the light bulb that marked his genius and ensured his place in history, but his design of an entire system to produce and distribute electricity.

As we talk about the foreshadowing of a whole economy based upon creativity and innovation -- the dawn of the "Creative Age" as the Nomura Research Institute put it -- we are more acutely aware of the importance of reinventing our business strategies, our corporations, our communities, our schools, our housing and land-use policies and more. Nothing can remain the same if we are to survive, let alone succeed in this new global economy.

For example, Michael Porter in his book The Competitive Advantage of Nations, first published in 1990, pointed out the importance of "economic clusters" -- "Geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers and associated institutions in a particular field that are present in a nation or region." Such clusters, he said, are central to survival in the wake of an uncertain global economy.

Today, corporations and the communities they serve must put themselves at the forefront of this sweeping change in the structure of the world in which we live and work. It is imperative that we begin in earnest to attract, retain and nurture the creative and innovative workforce we know we need; and in the process, create a new overlay of our land-use planning as well. Cities across the U.S. have to change the lenses in their cameras and their parochial thinking about "land use," the transformative value of technology and the urgent need to reinvent our schools.

We need to redesign our high school and college curricula in particular, to focus on preparing students for this new competition. While creative industries, according to the Americans for the Arts are defined as "arts-related," creativity and innovation are vital to the success of all businesses. And we need to focus more on training the next generation of leaders for the Creative Age.

The IIT Institute of Design in Chicago, for example, reportedly has found a way to "bridge the chasm between business and design." It defines design as "a core methodology of innovation" and as such, it argues, represents the key to new inventions and innovation itself. Business schools across America are rethinking their curricula, too, as the Master of Fine Arts is as valued to business as the revered MBA.

Sadly, if America does capture the high ground in this latest effort to lead the world economy by being first in the demand for creativity and innovation, it will do so because the hearse is now at the back door of our current economic situation. We continue to lose the high paying jobs to outsourcing and off shoring which living in a "flat world" has fostered.

There is now no doubt that the industrial economy is giving way to the creative economy. Corporations and whole communities are at another crossroads. Attributes that made them ideal for the 20th century could cripple them in the 21st, so they will have to change dramatically.

Unless we awaken to the realities, our graduates will not find the work they want and need, the purchasing power of the average family will continue its downward spiral and the state of America's prowess in both the economic and political arena will be lost.
John M. Eger is the Van Deerlin Chair in Communications and Public Policy at San Diego State University, and president of The World Foundation for Smart Communities.

Copyright® 2005 e.Republic, Inc. All rights reserved.
eRepublic, Inc. 100 Blue Ravine Rd., Folsom, CA 95630

--
John M. Eger
Van Deerlin Chair of Communication and Public Policy
Executive Director, International Center for Communications
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
PFSA 160
San Diego, CA
92182-4522
telephone 6195946910