USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry (ICCI) celebrated its two-year anniversary on March 18, 2017, which also marked the official launch of ICCI academic and research base in Zizhu International Education Park.
ICCI is the first higher-education institute entering the Zizhu International Education Park. Striving to cultivate talents in creative industries, it focuses on developing students’ leadership, communication skills, creation and entrepreneurship. ICCI has so far enrolled two intakes of international joint master degree program students, and 70% of the first intake are currently studying at USC.
The new academic and research base, covering about 8000 square meters, has a refreshing modern style. Its interior is filled with design and furniture that can facilitate development of the students’ crucial skills and knowledge. The base also has set up a few high-tech laboratories, such as SJTU-SHENDI Imagineering Lab and ICCI-XBOX Lab, which allow students to experiment on new innovations and experience cutting-edge technologies for inspiration. These labs are open to not only ICCI students but also the rest of SJTU, East China Normal University, as well as other neighboring communities with the hope of fostering the spirit of innovation and attracting more talents to the creative industries.
Taking advantages of the current existing strengths from USC and SJTU, ICCI cooperates with a variety of parties to invest in joint research work. This thrust is exemplified by the founding of Zizhu New Media Management Research Center, the ICCI-SHRNT Joint Research Center of Suzhou Future Film Town, and the training programs for video-making talents in cooperation with the leading media enterprise of Great Orange Media.
The two-year anniversary ceremony was hosted by Weimin ZHANG, Executive Dean of ICCI. Distinguished guests from universities, government and cultural industry enterprises, both local and abroad, mainly included Demei YANG, Deputy Governor of the People’s Government of Minhang District of Shanghai; Jian ZHAO, Deputy Director of the Higher Education Department of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission; Patricia RILEY, former President of USC Academic Senate and Associate Professor at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC; Ben LEE, USC Director of Zizhu New Media Management Research Center, Clinical Professor at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC; Baizhu CHEN, Co-Academic Director of ICCI, Professor at Marshall School of Business, USC; Wen SHEN and Guang XIA, Chairman of Board & General Manager and Deputy General Manager of SHANGHAI ZIZHU HI-TECH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE; Jifeng TANG, General Manager of Zizhu International Education Park; Fang CHENG, Vice President of SHANGHAI SHENDI (GROUP) CO., LTD., President of SHANGHAI SHENDI INSTITUTE; Sixian JIANG and Zhen HUANG, Chairperson of the University Council and Vice President of SJTU; Wenjun ZHANG, Dean of ICCI; representatives from various enterprises such as Microsoft XBOX, Whaley Technology, YesHJ.com, Vivid Media, Great Orange Media, etc.; Yanhua CAO, Wei LIU and Lu SUI, famous athletes from the sports sector.
Mr. Guang XIA welcomed the attendees on behalf of ZIZHU HI-TECH ZONE: “Co-funded by Minhang District Government and SHANGHAI ZIZHU HI-TECH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE, the Zizhu International Education Park aims to foster a world-famous higher education cluster. We warmly congratulate ICCI to be the first institution entering the park to lead the whole process.”
Patricia RILEY mentioned in her address that USC and SJTU have had more than a decade of close partnership, and she was very pleased to witness the smooth development of ICCI and its research center in Zizhu International Education Park through continuous joint efforts from both ICCI and Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The center itself will definitely lay a solid foundation for future progress in collaborative research and mutual academic exchanges between the two universities.
Deputy District Governor Demei YANG emphasized the importance of cultural and creative industries: “Cultural and creative industry is a key engine for Minhang District’s economic and social development. Shanghai has the ambition of building a modern science and innovation center with worldwide influence and the support of higher education and research turns out most essential. The founding of ICCI is a successful joint endeavor amongst Minhang District, ZIZHU, SJTU and USC, which will continue to boost the internationalization of SJTU and contribute more to the sustainable growth of Minhang District.”
Governor YANG’s remarks are well echoed by Sixian JIANG, Chairperson of the University Council of SJTU: “It has been two years since the founding of ICCI, a very shining and promising model for international and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Shanghai aims at becoming a cultural cosmopolitan city, and SJTU has taken the great opportunity to take the lead in fostering leaders and attracting talents for the future development of culture industry in Shanghai.”
Zizhu New Media Management Research Center International Symposium
Zizhu New Media Management Research Center (the Center), jointly established by ICCI and USC Annenberg, is part of the strategic partnership with Zizhu International Education Park (http://www.zizhu-edu.com/en/). The Center witnessed its first international symposium on March 18, 2017 after the grand opening ceremony. Researchers from USC and SJTU co-shared the latest research progress on new media management. Reports delivered on eight themes included The Usage of New Media in Building Healthy Doctor–patient Relationship, Visual Construction of Data Relation in the Big Data Age, Research on Chinese Music Market and so forth. The sharing of research findings and business case studies across Chinese and overseas fields greatly inspired Shanghai’s future development in these areas.The Forum of City Revitalization by Cultural and Creative Industry & International Digital Creation, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
The forum of City Revitalization by Cultural and Creative Industry was held in the afternoon after the two-year anniversary event. Funders of technology companies, cultural enterprises and museums were invited to share their views through dialogues on topics of “Imagination & Engineering”, “Life & Creativity” and “Arts & Craftsmanship”. ICCI faculty, students, and industrial practitioners together joined the discussions to foresee future trends in technology and products, as well as skills and abilities most in demand by the newly rising cultral and creative industries that should be well integrated into the knowledge delivery by academic units like ICCI.
“LIFE GEEK-SHOW&SHARE” -the 2nd Think Youth Shanghai International Digital Creation, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was officially launched on the same day. This is designed as an international competition to invite overseas college students from America, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Japan, as well as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan areas, to compete with students in Shanghai by developing creative products and innovative design work. Jury members will include senior managers from famous brands of cultural enterprises and investment companies, who are eagerly anticipating and seeking new ideas from the younger generation that can transform innovations into reality.