Beyond Productivity: Information Technology, Innovation, and Creativity

by William J. Mitchell, Allan S. Inouye, and Marjory S. Blumenthal, Editors
National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2003
268 pp. Paper, $35.00
ISBN: 0-309-08868-2.

Reviewed by Stefaan Van Ryssen
Hogeschool Gent
Jan Delvinlaan 115, 9000 Gent, Belgium

stefaan.vanryssen@pandora.be

The National Research Council was established by the National Academies, a private, non-profit society dedicated to the 'furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare'. This book is a report of the activities of a project from the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, a subcommittee of the NRC, to examine the interactions between computing and the humanities and the arts. Its aim is to present examples and pointers to sites on the WWW and the physical world where the intersection can be observed and experienced. As such, it does not attempt to analyse in depth what challenges are facing the artists, designers, and developers as they move into the uncertain terrain of Information Technology and Creative Practices (ITCP), nor does it outline the creative possibilities and the opportunities for developers of the future. It is not a speculative or philosophical treatise of things past and things to come. Rather, it maps the circumstances and conditions necessary for ITCP to flourish.

In a first chapter, the authors try to justify the very existence of ITCP. Why would designers, artists and programmers collaborate at all? Not surprisingly, the report looks at the social and economical rather than the purely aesthetic, functional, or hedonistic benefits. Even worse: according "to this committee [. . .] there is an emerging, global race to establish effective, sustainable clusters of IT-enabled creative activity at local, regional, and national scales——and even at larger scales, like that of the European Union." So we are competing already!

The book continues with a chapter on the systemic nature of creativity and how multi-skilled individuals and collaborative groups pursue work. Various factors, from differences in communication style and vocabulary to evolving work environments, influence how this work is carried out. This is by far the most interesting part from the point of view of the artist or the designer, since most of the following chapters are of a more technical nature.

Chapter 3 analyzes the role of IT in supporting ITCP work and offers observations for the future design of improved IT tools that would provide better support of ITCP. Chapter 4 looks at the problem from the other side: How art and design can help to advance the disciplines of computer science. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the venues for conducting, supporting, and displaying ITCP work. Unfortunately, this is a US-only list. No European or Asian centres, universities or musea are discussed.

In the final chapters and the "summary and recommendations," policies and practices are discussed. These findings and recommendations are directed to particular decision makers such as university administrators, officers of funding agencies and directors of cultural institutions. It is safe to say that this book I, indeed, most interesting for policy makers and less for the IT expert or the artist or designer who wants to deepen her insight in the exciting world of interactions between art, design, and technology.