The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Inspirational V&A can boost innovation
The director of V&A Dundee outlined his hopes the museum will inspire the next generation of Scottish designers and lead to business innovation when it opens next year.
Addressing the Institute of Directors (IoD) Scotland conference at Gleneagles Hotel, Philip Long called on the delegates to put creativity and design at the forefront of their businesses.
He said design should not be thought of as an “add on” but as something that could add value and create business opportunities.
“Our history demonstrates that design can innovate and create businesses and make a difference to people’s lives,” he said in his keynote address.
“V&A Dundee will help our understanding of this and will actively work to promote creativity.
“Design is increasingly seen as critical to business success. It can increase turnover, profit, export and is fundamental for future prosperity. Wellbeing and creativity is at design’s heart.”
He said the museum would have multiple roles to play in the city and region when it opens next year.
“It’s a new cultural attraction that will be visited by many hundreds of thousands of people a year,” he said.
“It will help bring new business to the city, particularly tourism business to the city, and it will create new business opportunities.
“It’s a new centre which, through its learning programmes, will open up opportunities. It’s a symbol of the city’s appetite for change.
“It’s creating new local pride and new interest in the city from around the world.”
The theme of the IoD Scotland’s conference this year is creativity, adaptability and innovation.
IoD Scotland chairwoman Professor Susan Deacon said the theme was chosen due to the amount of uncertainty at the moment.
Ian Callum, the director of design at Jaguar, outlined how design and technology was impacting on the future direction of the car giant.
He said the car industry was about to go through it greatest change in 100 years with the move to electric cars in the short term and automation in the long term.
The company has imagined what a model released in 2040 could look like.
“In the future a car without a driver could come and pick up somebody, which might affect the number of cars on the road,” he said.
“It might be the case that cars are shared among communities and the only part of the car you will fully own would be your own portable, voice activated AI steering wheel.”