New Research identifies Key Barriers to Innovation for Welsh Creative MSMEs
Our latest journal article, Addressing the micro-level challenges of research, development and innovation: The case of Welsh creative MSMEs, has been published Open Access in the International Journal of Innovation Studies.
In this research, we worked directly with Welsh creative micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), alongside policy and industry experts, to understand how the Creative Industries (CI) are currently engaging with Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) opportunities. Although the sector has demonstrated significant progress, our findings show that micro-level challenges continue to limit the effective participation of MSMEs in innovation support mechanisms.
We identify several often-overlooked barriers — including the importance of ‘Behind the Scenes’ operational hurdles, the role of First Impressions, and the need for Beyond Standard RD&I Support — which collectively shape whether creative businesses feel able and confident to engage.
Through this work, we offer practical, design-led recommendations that respond directly to the needs, capabilities and capacities of Welsh creative MSMEs. These insights can be used to improve future RD&I programmes and guide innovation policies that more effectively support growth across the sector. Among our key actions are:
- Reviewing the wider ecosystem that underpins RD&I support
- Creating a cross-sector and multi-level communication strategy to challenge misconceptions about ‘innovation’
- Embedding opportunities for shared learning to build confidence and capability among MSMEs
Dr Safia Suhaimi, Post-Doctoral Design Researcher and the lead author of the paper, said:
"Our goal is to share the ‘hidden’ barriers faced by Welsh creatives, that are often overlooked, which are impacting their participation in innovation support mechanisms such as R&D funding. We highlight practical and design-led changes that could be implemented at the operational level in the current systems. We hope that this bottom-up approach could lead to more targeted and tangible policy development for the Welsh CI in the future.”
If you’d like to explore the research in full, you can read the open-access article here: Addressing the micro-level challenges of research, development and innovation: The case of Welsh creative MSMEs.
You can also learn more about our ongoing work with Media Cymru and the Innovation Pipeline.