Creative Industries Council

Creative Industries Council

The global crises pose new challenges for the future and for innovation policy. The creative industries are part of the innovation ecosystem and play an important role in creating identity in the European innovation ecosystem by linking culture and innovation and creating new economic values.

The new Innovation Programme for Creative Industries 2030 focuses on the further development of the creative industries sector on further strengthening its innovative energy and using it as a lever for triple transitions in Europe in order to achieve goals in the areas of environmental and climate protection, social stability and strengthening Austria as a business location.

The Creative Industries Council supports and advises the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Tourism.

The members of the Creative Industries Council are (in alphabetical order): Gerhard Abel, Martin Filipp, Lukas Fliszar, Lotte Kristoferitsch, Julia Körner-Al-Rawi, Stephanie Meisl (Deputy Head of the Creative Industries Council Chairwoman), Irina Nalis-Neuner, Sabrina Oswald (Chairwoman), Markus Schmeiduch.

Sabrina Oswald, Chairwoman

Sabrina Oswald is co-founder of FUTURA, a marketing consulting collective focused on brand storytelling, positioning & digital marketing. She started her career in 1989 and held management positions at major communications agencies (Lowe GGK, TBWA), later becoming a partner at ACCEDO before going independent in 2012.

Sabrina Oswald is known as Austrias “Mrs. Storytelling” and has covered this field since 2009. As a board member of the Austrian Marketing Society, she is actively involved in advancing diversity and sustainability in marketing, a commitment she continues as a committee member of the Advertising and Market Communication professional group. She teaches at FH St. Pölten, FH Niederösterreich and the Werbe Akademie. She has also served as deputy division head of the Information & Consulting division at the Vienna Chamber of Commerce since 2020, and as an expert lay judge at the Higher Regional Court since 2022.

Stephanie Meisl, Deputy Chairwoman

Stephanie Meisl has worked in media art, film, and advertising for over 20 years. She is known for her award-winning AI art projects and her role as co-founder of the art collective D#AVANTGARDE - new technology, art and creativity, which fosters the connection between art and the creative industries, organizes events, runs workshops, and delivers projects for a range of companies, primarily using AI. The use of new technologies in art projects, and the experience gained from it, form the basis for sharing her knowledge and advancing digital literacy. As a curator, keynote speaker, and panelist, she has gained international recognition. In 2023, she received the Content Vienna - Digital Literacy special award from the Wirtschaftsagentur Wien (Vienna Business Agency).

Gerhard Abel

Gerhard Abel is co-founder and managing director of PLANET architects, an internationally active, interdisciplinary architecture and design firm. His career took him from Vienna to Barcelona, where he studied at TU Wien and ETSA Barcelona, and on to Sydney, Australia, where he worked for, among others, Harry Seidler & Associates. With his 25-strong international team of architects, interior designers, product designers, graphic designers, and organizational developers, he is passionate about designing forward-looking work- , learning- , and living spaces. Through participatory human-centered design processes, he develops solutions that strengthen social cohesion and create positive impulses for communities. As a keynote speaker, guest lecturer, and co-initiator of the Future Experience Forum, he is committed to shaping the future of work.

Martin Filipp

Martin Filipp began his career in the games industry in 2000 at neo Software, which became Rockstar Vienna in 2003. There he held various management positions and contributed significantly to the company’s success. That same year, Martin co-founded Games That Matter, which introduced a new and innovative production model for game development. In 2010, Martin moved to Io-Interactive in Denmark, where he worked on several HITMAN titles. In 2013, he returned to Austria to support the Xbox team during the launch of the Xbox One. After his time at Microsoft, Martin returned to development and now works with former Rockstar colleagues at Mi’pu’mi Games. As COO and managing director, he helps the founders manage the studio’s organization. Martin is a founding member and chair of Pioneers of Game Development Austria, the representative body for Austrias game developers.

Lukas Fliszar

Lukas Fliszar is a Creative Director, founder of the agency 101, and has been working in the creative industries for more than 20 years. As a board member of the Creativ Club Austria and Design Austria, Chair of the Vienna Advertising Association, and a member of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Economic Parliament, he sees himself as a bridge builder between the creative industries, business, and policymaking. He is committed to actively shaping the future of Austria's creative industries and strengthening their role as a driving force for innovation and sustainable economic growth.

Lotte Kristoferitsch

Lotte Kristoferitsch is a designer and architect specializing in social design. She has extensive experience in developing and scaling innovative sanitation solutions with a focus on social impact, technical feasibility, and international applicability. She is Co-Managing Director of the social design studio EOOS Next, which has held the Verified Social Enterprise Label since 2023.

Julia Körner-Al-Rawi

The Austrian designer Julia Körner-Al-Rawi is one of the world’s leading figures in digital manufacturing methods and 3D printing. She works across disciplines in architecture, product design, and fashion design. She is the founder of JK Design GmbH and the label JK3D. Since 2012, she has taught architecture at UCLA in Los Angeles. Her recent collaborations include 3D-printed Haute Couture pieces as well as 3D-printed costumes for Marvel Studio’s Hollywood productions ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Wakanda Forever’, which won two Oscars.

Irina Nalis-Neuner

Irina Nalis-Neuner earned her doctorate from the University of Vienna in work-, economic-, and social psychology. As a transformation psychologist, her focus is on the skills needed to successfully navigate the challenges of our time. Competencies such as creativity and communication, as well as the ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity, are seen as resources for shaping the shift toward sustainable forms of work and business. Irina Nalis-Neuner works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Recommender Systems at TU Wien, where she champions the principles of digital humanism. She is also involved as curator of the discourse program of the Elevate Festival, at Mostlikely Architects, and volunteers as chairwoman of the association GiN – assistance for people with cognitive and multiple disabilities. Previously, she worked in strategic brand, communications, and organizational development. She publishes regularly in trade journals and is frequently invited to give talks and interviews.

Markus Schmeiduch

Markus Schmeiduch is Product Design Manager at Planetlabs, a satellite operator based in San Francisco with an office in Austria. He studied Multimedia arts at SAE Vienna/Middlesex University London and Interaction design at the Interaction Design Institute Copenhagen. He worked for many years at the Vienna-based agency Knallgrau, founded two travel startups, worked for Google in Munich and Silicon Valley on UX/UI and accessibility standards for apps such as Gmail, and as an independent designer on the social impact initiatives Blindmaps and Alles–Clara. He has been active in Austria’s creative industries and startup ecosystem for many years, starting with organizing Barcamp conferences in the early Web 2.0 days, through to mentoring creative industries founders at Creative Region Linz & Upper Austria.

Contact

If you have any questions for the Creative Industries Council, please feel free to contact CI@bmwet.gv.at