New Adobe Study Uncovers Creativity Gap in Government

According to a survey released today by Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE), 73 percent of public sector creative professionals believe that creativity is undervalued in government and that government is limiting their creative capabilities. In the ongoing struggle for government to recruit the best talent, the private sector is increasingly more attractive for creative professionals, causing a creativity gap between the public and private sectors.

The Creativity in Public Sector Survey assessed the opinions and perspectives of public sector creative employees across a variety of topics, including workplace environment, private sector competition and mobile investment. Conducted by Edelman Intelligence, it polled 175 public sector employees at the local/municipal, state/provincial and federal levels in the U.S. and Canada working in creative communications, design and program management.

While 94 percent of respondents agree that governments should be as creative as businesses, only 46 percent believe that public sector entities are as creative as their private sector counterparts. Furthermore, 57 percent of respondents don’t feel as though their colleagues are living up to their creative potential.

“The creativity gap between the public and private sectors is real and presents a tremendous challenge for government, its employees and the professionals who work there,” said Jerry Silverman, Principal Solutions Consultant at Adobe. “There are very talented creatives in government agencies with the potential to produce world-class communications for government. All they need is for their agency resources to meet them halfway with the right tools and resources.”

Other key findings include:

• A majority of 89 percent agree that creative communications and design ultimately allows the government to better serve constituents and achieve their mission.
• Ninety-five percent believe that mobile is transforming the face of creativity and design, with half of respondents noting that using mobile in their design process helps them collaborate and create content anywhere.
• According to public sector employees, the top three most significant barriers to fostering a creative environment are the slow approval process, access to the right technology and security concerns.
• Forty-one percent of respondents would consider leaving their current public sector job for one that allowed more creativity.

To see the full results of the Creativity in Public Sector Survey please click here. To read the Mobile and Creativity in the Public Sector infographic click here and for the Creativity in the Public Sector Workplace infographic click here.

To learn more about how Adobe can help government entities reach their creative potential, please visit adobe.com/government.

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