How does digital transformation pose a challenge for the global creative economy?

AREQUIPA, Peru – The digital transformation is profoundly affecting the production and consumption of creative goods and services around the world, with unequal opportunities, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said this week.

The so-called creative economy includes audiovisual products, design, media, music, performing arts, publishing and visual arts, among other sectors, the entity said, as cited by the state agency Prensa Latina.

According to UNCTAD, the sector’s commercial boom points to the need for robust regulatory frameworks to ensure that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) benefit everyone and foster a competitive and sustainable economy.

In 2022, he illustrated, global exports of creative services soared to $1.4 trillion, while those of creative goods totaled $713 billion, for increases of 29 and 19 percent, respectively, compared to 2017.

However, there are significant differences between countries, with the major powers accounting for 80% of creative services exports, including software, research and development, advertising, market research and architecture.

In 2023, the study revealed, streaming services increased their share by 10.4 percent, now accounting for more than two-thirds (67.3 percent) of global music market revenues.

Meanwhile, AI has helped expand content creation, distribution and consumption, being used to generate scripts, films, music, images, captions, animations and virtual reality content, as well as to optimize post-production and analyze user data.

While digitalisation and AI are conducive to growth and efficiency, they also raise issues relating to the digital divide, labour changes, quality control, privacy and consumer protection, copyright and market monopolisation, UNCTAD said.

According to the entity, those responsible must monitor technological developments and update political and regulatory frameworks to take advantage of development opportunities and mitigate risks.