The people behind CLICKNL: Bart Ahsmann
Who are the people that enthusiastically work on strengthening the creative industry and boosting meaningful innovations every single day? What do they think are the biggest challenges for the creative industries and what are their personal motivations? In the first interview of this series: Bart Ahsmann, CEO of CLICKNL. Bart worked as a designer for many years, and then worked on modelling valorization in the design industry. “I have noticed there is more and more attention for the creative industry’s way of thinking, instead of just concrete solutions that arise from it.”
Why are you so committed to strengthening the creative industry?
“As a designer, you are always aware that you are working on coming up with things that need to be used by people. The point is not to make something that you like or think looks nice, but something that people understand and something that can help them. When I was working on the development of programmable room thermostats, quite a while ago, in the nineties, the interface technology was still at its preliminary stage, so that was a really big challenge. On the one hand it was a real technological issue, but one the other hand it really revolved around people: how can you help people to comfortably heat up their house, without constantly having to turn knobs on their boiler? That is exactly what the creative industry is all about, and what I like so much.”
How do you look back on 2018?
“What was especially important, is that we took the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (KIA) that we introduced with CLICKNL in 2017 and translated those into concrete programs, calls and projects last year. The vision that we presented that shows how we feel the creative industry can contribute to societal challenges, has given an insight to parties like other top sectors and ministries on what the creative industry is about and from which new knowledge should arise. Now we have to connect that to big challenges and develop good innovations and solutions. I feel like we’re on the right track because of the increased demand from areas that you wouldn’t initially expect, like security. And not just security in the physical sense, but also cyber security, for example. What can the creative industry contribute to an area like that? I see that there is more attention for the way designers think, for example strategy development, instead of just concrete solutions that come from creative industry.
And what are important challenges for the upcoming year?
“The new top sector policy, that is going to focus on mission driven innovations, creates multiple challenges for CLICKNL. First of all, it generates lots of leads for the creative industry. Think of physical solutions, data visualizations, the use of gamification… And that is just the tip of the iceberg. So really, we could see ourselves as lucky! The next step is to make sure creative professionals also actually work on those challenges. That they are actively involved and take part in the debate, that they think outside of the traditional framework of client and contractor. And the third step is: how do we make sure that the new knowledge that is needed to achieve that, is developed?”
Which project in the creative industry inspires you?
“CIRCO is a great project that arose from CLICKNL and that is going to grow this year. At CIRCO, the design thinking approach comes out really well: because of that approach, CIRCO gives companies insight into where possibilities for them are for new products, services and business models that fit a circular economy. This is very much at strategy level. The great thing is that a part like the ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment also sees that this approach is working and contributes to achieving their goals.
What are you looking forward to for this year?
“An interesting call about transitions and human behavior is going to open soon. It is a big call about research into methodologies that you can use to take on societal challenges. This is really in line with development of missions and the pioneering role that the creative industry can have. I also look forward to the projects that arise from that. We, as CLICKNL, also have a number of our flagship projects, great example projects for the sector, like the project with Talpa that we are currently working on. I am very excited to find out how that is going to develop. We actually still have space for new projects, so if there are companies that have specific questions that are relevant and that could lead to new knowledge, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
