Nurturing creative talent with industry partnership in Hong Kong

The creative industries in Hong Kong anticipated a shortage of employment candidates with relevant experience and training. Emerging technologies are transforming current technical and vocational skills. Employees of the future are expected to shoulder tasks that require creativity, analytical skills, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship. This article is a case study of an initiative in Hong Kong to innovate technical and vocational education and training for the information and communications technology (ICT) and the creative industry. The initiative involves a tripartite partnership between secondary schools, industry partners, and Hong Kong Baptist University. The article first discusses the talent needs of the creative industry and the emerging job opportunities in the Art Tech domain. Based on a skill mapping study, three future jobs, including content curator, business designer, and creative technologist were identified for the Art-Tech sector. The functions and duties of these future jobs were elaborated. It gives the background of the CLAP-TECH Learning Pathway program which is modeled after IBM’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) education model. The “CLAP-TECH Learning Pathway” includes two applied learning courses—Tech Basic and Multimedia Storytelling—offered in senior secondary schools with further study opportunities. Industry partners provide out-of-classroom learning in the form of mentoring, curriculum co-development, guest lectures, and company visits. The set-up of the organization within the university system, the recruitment and maintenance of the industry partners, and the program evaluation mechanism was discussed. Students’ learning outcomes of the program focus on ICT education and training were used as an indicator of the initial success of the program. Further development of the program and the research gaps were identified and presented.