Learning to innovate by connecting interprofessional judgement – Exploring the digitised creative sector in the Gulf

Abstract

In this chapter, we first provide a circumscribed review of the creative sector as a potential employment-creating sector, specifically in the digitised creative segment in Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Whilst acknowledging the previous work on the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems and the increased entrepreneurship education efforts in these countries, we focus on the learning and upskilling required for innovating in the nascent creative sub-sectors, such as digital marketing and advertising (e.g. mobile value-added services (VAS)); media and entertainment (e.g. television and film, and gaming); and digital commerce (e.g. start-ups and new technology based firms (NTBFs)). Our geographical focus remains on the context of Tehran, Jeddah (and Khobar), and Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Secondly, exploring the in-situ learning episodes within a conceptual model, created via primary and secondary data sources, we point to the prominent use of skill webs as means of in-project upskilling and a resource for development of inter-professional learning and judgement capability which forms a core ingredient for innovation. Lastly, the final section briefly points to recent policy vistas and concludes.