Immersion in the Scottish World of Innovation
OKLAHOMA CITY (November 10th, 2015)— Last month, four board members of Creative Oklahoma traveled to Scotland to participate in the international District of Creativity’s “Reverse Mission” to learn about centers of innovation and entrepreneurship in that country.
Susan McCalmont, President of Creative Oklahoma; Pageant Ferriabough, President & CEO of Busine$$’ Resource Unlimited in Tulsa; Douglas Sorocco, Partner, Dunlap Codding and Tommy Yi, Director/Co-Founder of the Project202/The 404 of Oklahoma City, served as Oklahoma ambassadors on this entrepreneurial study mission which included representatives from the 13-member international network. Oklahoma is the only North American member of the international Districts of Creativity Network based in Flanders, Belgium. Each year, the organization sponsors the largest international creativity gathering in the world, the Creativity World Forum, and study missions, or “Reverse missions,” to partner regions around the world.
Oklahomans visited innovation districts and three universities in Edinburgh and Dundee known for technology and scientific discoveries. At the University of Edinburgh, they visited the School of Informatics, a center for robotics development. They also visited the University of Dundee’s Discovery Center for Translational and Interdisciplinary Research, where collaboration across life sciences facilitates innovative discovery and translation with groundbreaking pharmaceutical trials. As a UNESCO City of Design, Dundee is at the forefront of urban design and innovation centers such as the Discovery Center for Translational and Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Dundee. Abertay University in Dundee is another center where participants observed the successful academic and gaming industry partnerships. Innovation Centers such as the Creative Exchange in Edinburgh and the corporate Scott & Fyfe innovation space in Fyfe, were inspiring for their open, collaborative design.
The trip was inspirational and informative and provided Oklahoma with new business relationships, collaborative project possibilities, and ideas for Oklahoma’s own centers for creativity and innovation. Tommy Yi, one of Oklahoma City’s entrepreneurs, stated: “The partnership between Borders Crossings, a private initiative, and publicly funded organizations like Business Gateway further stressed the importance of understanding the landscape of local assets, the customer journey and utilizing design thinking methodologies as part of the innovation process to help new businesses grow and succeed. The Mission also stressed the importance of small businesses, which make up a large portion of employment and tax revenue for Scotland.”
A countrywide institution, Scotland Can Do, was responsible for organizing the Reverse Mission with partnering organizations, Creative Scotland, Creative Edinburgh, and Creative Dundee.
In March of this year, Creative Oklahoma organized and hosted the Creativity World Forum in Oklahoma City, in conjunction with an Oklahoma Reverse Mission, for international delegates to study and visit Oklahoma’s innovation centers throughout the state. During Oklahoma’s “Reverse Mission”, representatives from eight countries visited sites from Norman to Stillwater to Tulsa with diverse panel discussions, site visits, and business to business meetings over a three-day itinerary.
International Delegates from the Districts of Creativity Network at University of Dundee’s Center for Life Sciences, Dundee, Scotland 
Collaborative work space at Creative Exchange, Edinburgh, Scotland 
Innovation Space at Scott & Fyfe, Fyfe, Scotland
Creative Oklahoma is a statewide non-profit organization advancing Oklahoma’s economy through innovation-focused initiatives in education, commerce and culture. The mission is to transform Oklahoma through projects and collaborative ventures that help develop an improved life quality for its citizens and a more entrepreneurial and vibrant economy. For more information, please visit www.creativeoklahoma.org