Creative panel for Cape

Dr. Richard Florida, author of the 2002 bestseller 'The rise of the creative class' and the more recent 'The flight of the creative class' will be in Cape Town later this month to present his thoughts on the creative economy and share his expertise with the audience on growing and developing the Cape creatively.

Dr Florida, the Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia in the US will also participate in a panel discussion with individuals from local government and the private sector. The panel discussion will be facilitated by television personality Jeremy Maggs.

"Grow and develop the Cape creatively" will take place on 22 September from 2pm to 6pm at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and is particularly aimed at attracting the human capital of all sectors and will include government, entrepreneurs, business people, academics, creative people and community leaders.

As Stanford University economist Paul Romer says: "Ideas do not fall from the sky; they come from people. People write the software. People design the products. People start the new businesses. Every new thing that gives us pleasure, productivity or even convenience is the result of human ingenuity."

The panel discussion will debate issues and studies arising from the main presentation by Florida, in particular how these are important to the Western Cape economy. Questions and comments from the floor will also be part of the interaction.

The panel members currently include: Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool, Noki Dube (CTRU), Ismail Dockrat (WESGRO), Mike van Graan, Ravi Naidoo (Design Indaba), Jeremy Maggs (as facilitator), Derek Carstens (First Rand Limited), Ken Cato (Cato Purnell Partners, Australia) and more.