We recently put together a series of video talks on the Saskatchewan Creative Tech Ecosystem. The three part series helps explain all the different government agencies involved, or potentially involved, in the creative tech industry here in Saskatchewan. We of course have a lot of opinions on government policy, but know few people dig deep on the mandates, policies and strategies behind government agencies. These three videos serve to inform the public about the different agencies in order to raise the public understanding of the situation, and explain our position on policy changes and actions to support tech creatives in the province.
Part 1 – The Agency Overview
In this video we focus on explaining who the agencies involved are, by looking at their relationships and most importantly their mandates as defined in their annual reports or laws of Saskatchewan. We look at Innovation Place (also known as SOCO), Innovation Saskatchewan, SaskCulture, the Sask Arts Board, Creative Sask, SaskInteractive, and the other Cultural Industry Associations (SaskBooks, SaskMusic, SaskGalleries, SMPIA, SATP, and the Sask Craft Council). We also mention SaskGameDev and SaskTech as non-governmental associations.
Part 2 – Creative Sask & SaskInteractive Focus
In the second video we look specifically at Creative Saskatchewan and SaskInteractive (also known as the Saskatchewan Interactive Media Association). These two agencies are the most important and influential (or potentially influential) on the creative tech sector. We explain their mandates by looking at the law that founded Creative Sask – The Creative Saskatchewan Act 2013. By understanding the terms of creation of the crown corporation we try to provide a clear definition of its duties and responsibilities. We also look at SaskInteractive and its misalignment with the Creative Tech sector through the lens of the legal and financial bindings of its mandate, and point out some of the egregious flaws in its recent decisions and performance.
Part 3 – What Can & Should Be Done
In Part 3 of this video series we provide what we see as the solutions to best serve the creative tech sector and grow this vital piece of our innovation system. We explain agencies that can stay the course, we show examples where positive new changes can be made, and we address where major failures have occurred and solutions to solve those problems. We end with a few larger projects that could help to slingshot our industries development and produce powerful new tools for growth.
If you want to check out the Leader Post article I mention in the video you can read it here: https://leaderpost.com/news/saskatchewan/deal-maker-or-breaker-sask-game-developers-give-new-equity-fund-mixed-reviews/
We hope these videos help inform the public and bureaucrats on how we can better align our agencies and work together to grow this new sector for the province. We hope that with a better understanding of the situation, the history, mandates, and meaning behind things we can create a better informed society and ensure this province is more ready and able to move forward with critical changes to this industry and its supports to supercharge our ability to innovate and grow economically and culturally.
Be sure to check out our other Articles for more information about the industry in Saskatchewan. You can sign up here to join SaskGameDev and get our monthly newsletter to keep you up to date on whats happening in our province.