Design Management - Design Policy (since The 2010s)

Design Policy (since The 2010s)

Today, most developed countries have some kind of design promotion programme. The Design Management Institute has dedicated three issues to design policy development. Although initiatives promote design in different complexities, scopes and focuses, specific targets tend to address the following objectives:

• support business: increase use of design by companies, particularly by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and grow the design sector (use dimension);
• promote to the public: increase exports of design and attract international investment (international dimension);
• educate designers: improve design education and research (academic dimension).

A very comprehensive analysis on the situation of design on national level in Britain is the Cox review. The chairman of the Design Council, Sir George Cox, published the Cox Review of Creativity in Business in 2005 to communicate the competitive advantage of design for the British industry.

Innovation policies have been excessively focused on the supply of technologies, neglecting the demand side (the user). There have been several initiatives by the European Commission to support and research design and design management in recent years. However, a European-wide policy to support design has never been planned, due to the inconsistencies and differences in design policies in each nation. Nonetheless, there are currently plans to include design in the EU innovation policy.