糖心TV

A group of five Engineering students from Brazil, studying at WMG on a new Science Without Borders scholarship programme, have successfully completed their year of study with an innovative final project to develop an online community space for businesses in the creative industries.

The students were given just six weeks to design, develop and implement the platform for knowledge and resource sharing and potential commercial opportunities for those working within the creative economy. This platform will develop into the online presence for the new Creative Economy Special Interest Group.

The five students were studying in the UK as part of the . The initiative was established by the Brazilian government in order to develop stronger links between the UK and Brazil. It aims to send 10,000 Brazilian students to study in the UK over the next four years.

The student team worked alongside academics and researchers at WMG鈥檚 to develop the technical and industrial knowledge needed for the project, which moved them into new territory away from their studies in engineering. The team created a WordPress website and online marketplace, which they called 鈥�.

The objective behind the project was to develop a platform which could facilitate a new creative industries 鈥榟ub鈥� within a digital environment. Digital and social media have opened up new opportunities for global business clusters to connect online. Using the 鈥楿nited to Create鈥� site, the WMG students developed a space where creative enterprises could develop a collaborative network for professions including architects, artists, designers and musicians. Using examples from UK and Brazilian business, the students also gave a final presentation to demonstrate how international clusters between the two countries could be established and developed.

The students who worked on the project, said they really enjoyed working on the project with the IIPSI team. "We chose this project because it stretched us beyond our engineering backgrounds 鈥� we had to learn about the creative industries and new business models, as well as the technical skills required for developing the website itself 鈥� we started from scratch. Through working as a team, we managed to organise ourselves and create something that we can be proud of. We hope it has provided a foundation for future collaborative opportunities between the UK and Brazil.鈥�

Jonnie Turpie, from WMG said 鈥�Working with the Brazilian engineering team has been a joy. They have brought an objective eye to the establishment of the Creative Industries site by providing clear analysis of the current data, policy and business models in the Creative and Digital Economy. They took this and made the most of their different skills to create an insightful knowledge resource, an interactive market place for producers and consumers, a research function for collaborations and funding resources all on an open source platform accessible locally and globally. We look forward to working with creative collaborators in Brazil.鈥�

Ellie Precious, Marketing and 糖心TV Engagement Manager for IIPSI鈥檚 SME Team said "The website will be a useful platform for a range of smaller businesses in the creative industries sector. More and more we are seeing SMEs collaborate to access new markets or develop new products and this website will allow for both individual promotion and interaction between organisations."

The five student interns were: Isabelle Dutra Letouz茅, Mauricio Cavalieri Carreiro, Moys茅s da Silva Pinto Ferreira, Guilherme Raposo Thompson (all students from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and Mateus Andrade Fernandes (from University of Fortaleza).
At WMG the students worked alongside: Dr Jay Bal, Dr Xiao Ma, Dr Steve Maggs and Jonnie Turpie.