In 2016, the entire digital economy contributed 15.5 per cent of total global GDP, or $11.5 trillion. This was mainly driven by the increasing usage of a consumer-driven Internet.
By 2025, that figure is expected to reach $23 trillion[1], or 24.3 per cent of total global GDP.
Yet, the digital economy rises partly due to creative workers. It is these workers who produce creative content for digital and creative companies, including bloggers, filmmakers, movie artists, broadcasters, photographers, and advertisers, to name a few.
Research from Ernst & Young[2] from 2015 found that the culture and creative industries (CCI) generated $2,250 billion of revenue, or 3 per cent of the world’s GDP, creating 29.5 million jobs worldwide. The biggest contributors were television ($477 million), visual arts ($391 million), newspapers and magazines ($354 million), and advertising ($285 million).
Notably, though, it is often the contractors that are left out of pocket. Figures from the Association for Independent Professionals (IPSE) and The Freelancer Club found last year that freelancers working in the creative industries lose £5,394 per year[3] by working for free.
The Digital Asset Wallet
In order to solve these issues, a platform is aiming to reinvent the digital and creative economies by providing a decentralised solution for all types of transactions. By using blockchain technology and smart contracts it is hoping to build a better infrastructure.
The Six.network[4] was born from the alliance of businesses in the digital marketing and creative industries to solve problems afflicting upstream (creative workers), midstream (agencies), and downstream (audiences) players in the supply chain.
According to the platform’s white paper[5] these problems include “high transaction costs, low financial liquidity of middlemen and creative workers, [the] inability to liquidise digital assets, content
