What happens when attention becomes scarcer than capital? With “Hidden Values”, we developed a cross-media future format for the NRW Ministry of Economic Affairs – consisting of a conference, publication and panel discussion – that introduced a central thesis into the social discourse: With the transition from industrial capitalism to a digital knowledge society, intangible values such as attention, relationships and data will become the real currency of the future. The rest of the economy is only just catching up with the creative industries.

The format anticipated debates that have now reached the mainstream – and positioned NRW and its creative industries as an intellectual avant-garde: ahead of the curve, not behind it.