KPMG and Dasym’s research and design institute FreedomLab are investing in the further development of the creative sector in the Netherlands. Together they intend to develop innovative services and concepts that can help resolve important but also complex social issues.
To make that happen, KPMG and FreedomLab are setting up a new company: OneDegree (One°). As a studio, One° will focus on the strategic application of creativity and technology in systems and services that call for the involvement of people. One° will focus primarily on realizing the concepts thus created. As One° will be building further on methods that are already common in creative industry, including the game industry, the new company will form a logical next step to the Center for Applied Games that the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment opened in Amsterdam last year.
The activities of One° will include the strategic use of games to help make therapies more effective and to teach people new things in an inspiring way, for example. Another focus for One° will be the development of e-services that can help people travel smarter, consume less energy and live healthier lives. Those will involve the application of creative industry activities such as design, rapid prototyping and gamification.
The classical approach no longer suffices
In their quest for solutions to these challenges, companies and governments increasingly come up against the limitations of the classical, linear approach.
Erik Schut, partner at KPMG:
‘It’s essential to look for new methods and techniques that will allow people and companies to work together to create technological solutions.’
As Erik Schut, partner at KPMG, puts it: “The classical ways of solving problems are turning out to be less and less effective, while the processes are growing increasingly complex and more expensive. At the same time, the relationships between consumers and producers, between employers and employees, and between governments and citizens are undergoing radical changes. That means it’s essential to look for new methods and techniques that will allow people and companies to work together to create technological solutions. This fits in perfectly with the strong focus on technology that we have within KPMG Advisory.”
A concrete example of that focus is the use of game simulations to preventively track down and resolve weaknesses in complex infrastructures.
Untapped potential
The creative industry in the Netherlands has tremendous untapped potential, according to Arjan Postma of FreedomLab. The way the creative industry works can point out ways that will lead to faster innovation and problem solving. It’s no coincidence that the creative industry has been designated as one of the Dutch “top sectors”.
Arjan Postma, founder of Freedomlab:
‘The Netherlands can assume a leading role in this area of applied creativity.’
As Postma says: “The Netherlands is a world leader with respect to the development of creative concepts, from architecture and design to media and gaming. Due to the tremendous specialization, however, the market has become relatively fragmented. By forging more connections between the disciplines, our industry is becoming more agile. And if we dare to let the creative approach be leading when dealing with major issues, we can co-innovate to develop new applications that will have a major impact on substantial sections of society. The Netherlands can assume a leading role in this area of applied creativity.”
