Pretoria - Think South Korea and one thinks of the economic boom which transformed the country from one of the world's poorest after World War II into a 20th century success story.
Think South Korea and one thinks of global innovation and technology leaders, with companies such as Samsung, Hyundai and LG making their mark.
Behind Korea's miraculous recovery and dramatic growth lie smart decisions on where to invest, engendering a spirit of entrepreneurship especially among the youth, and plenty of hard work. It is these aspects which are again driving the Korean government's focus on the "creative economy".
In an environment where no idea is seen as too small, and everyone is given the best possible opportunity to work, there will be success stories.
One of these is the story of Eric Ju Yoon Kim and The Dot watch, a smart device which looks a bit like an Apple watch with a display in Braille, allowing blind or visually impaired people to access smartphone data.
Kim was a student at the University of Washington when he noticed a blind student using huge Braille books and realised that much of the information we have at our fingertips was not meaningful to people who could not access smart devices in the usual way.
He and three student friends created the sleek and easy-to-use device, worn like a watch, which turns text and other information into Braille. This means that users can read messages and also use apps available to smartphone users, rather than rely on traditional Braille readers which are generally expensive and bulky to carry around.
Today Kim is the chief executive of a venture company worth billions, they have featured in Time and other significant publications, and are continuing their work to expand their technology into other electronic products such as a Dot Pad or tablet which can display graphs and other mathematical content which will assist in learning.
Kim told Time magazine that he hoped the innovations of his company would allow blind and partially-sighted people to interact with their electronic devices "on their own terms". As an example, he said, instead of listening to Siri (or other intelligent assistance technology) to read a message from your girlfriend, the user could read it himself, "and hear your girlfriend's voice in your head". One of his first clients, he says, was Stevie Wonder.
"Kim is young, in his 20s, and is one of the most promising business leaders in Korea now," says Myeong-Jin Kwak, the proud manager of the Seoul Centre for Creative Economy and Innovation, where The Dot was incubated.
In a country where the creative economy is a strategic priority, the Seoul Centre and 17 others around the country are key to turning innovative ideas into reality.
At these centres, young and old are invited to share their ideas, have them reviewed and when selected, receive all the support they need to turn them into successful start-ups.
"They bring their ideas to us and we give them all the support they need to turn them into successful star-ups."
The Seoul Centre opened last year with two sections; the main building and an adjacent incubator, and among facilities are work stations, conference and training rooms, a kitchen and even sleeping quarters for those in need. On hand to help are advisers, including lawyers to assist with paperwork and those with business experience who can help secure funding, and best of it is that most of these services come free.
At present there are 72 projects in incubation with more than 500 being mentored, either directly or remotely online from Seoul.
The idea of the creative economy was articulated by Korean President Park Geun-hye, and defined as "the convergence of science and technology with industry, the fusion of culture with industry, and the blossoming of creativity". At the very heart of this economy lie science technology and the IT industry, areas that she earmarked as key priorities.
Kwak says that leaders of the G20 had shown their appreciation for Korea's creative economy model and it had been benchmarked in Saudi Arabia, with Brazil, China, France and New Zealand creating partnerships with Korea.
Asked what could be learned from the success of the model he said:
* Education is important, from school age, to build the skills needed to participate in the creative economy.
* Co-operation between start-ups and larger conglomerates, "as they have the channels for promotion and logistics, but they too can get good ideas from the start-ups".
* The chance to showcase innovative products to a wider audience, such as is done by Koreans participating in the annual Mama Concert - the Asian Music Awards event in Hong Kong in December which is accompanied by the Asia-World Expo.
* Host dynamic and creative areas, such as Silicone Valley or Seoul Centre, where the infrastructure and facilities are there to support innovation.
* Give the programme the status of a national priority. "Creative Korea" is the slogan of President Park, and is one of her government's priorities in the country's strategy for economic revival.
The concept of the creative economy is not one to explain in a few minutes, says Chio Injin of South Korea's Creative Economy Policy Bureau Innovation and Co-operation team, which is part of the Ministry of Science ICT and Future planning.
"So far, Korea has achieved much economic development based on its large conglomerates, but what this policy does is turn attention from them to the field of SSME: or Service Science, Management and Engineering.
"The creative economy is all about convergence; about how we combine all fields with ICT; how to integrate aspects of established fields with new ones, for example to combine agriculture for smart-farming, or ICT or health care with ICT to provide remote diagnostics.
"More than anything, we are very focused on how to advance our policy and business environment for the start-up to grow," Injin said.
The government started online mentoring with about 2 000 mentors advising innovators at no charge, a project which Injin said has, together with the Centre for Creative Economy, been successful in getting start-ups off the ground.
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