Few topics within the study of creativity and innovation incite as much passion as assessment or measurement, the process of gathering data representing one’s aptitudes, knowledge, attitudes, cognition, or potential. This appears to be especially true when the topic is discussed among non-academics who work in creative fields: A colleague once shared a story concerning his speaking about creativity with designers at a major entertainment company. He off-handedly mentioned measurement and … suffice it to say, he did not find the kingdom to be so magical from that point forward. The conventional wisdom is that creativity is too difficult to measure and many people are surprised to learn that creativity assessment has a long, rich history.

The growth of cybercrime, social media misuse and online intellectual property infringement discussed in the preceding three chapters presents new and significant challenges for regulating these aspects of technology law. Conducting investigations, determining jurisdictional scope and prosecuting offences all require a degree of adaptation, as compared to traditional areas of the law. The contrast between investigating a robbery from a bricks-and-mortar store on the one hand and the hacking of an e-commerce company’s trade secrets is vast.

We began with the observation that technology law, as defined by this text, is now an important field in its own right. This importance will continue to grow as the progress of technology and its application in society continues to create gaps in the legal framework that require regulation. No-one can predict exactly what new technologies are coming, what their implications will be, or what laws will be needed, but by studying theoretical approaches to ethics and regulation and the legal problems that have arisen to date, and how these have been responded to, we are better prepared to deal with future challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 provides a stark reminder that unanticipated events can change the societal landscape in a matter of weeks and provide compelling reasons for technologies to be quickly applied in new ways. This concluding chapter will consider the future directions of technology law by reflecting on technology and society, noting the areas of law and regulation that have been covered, and reflecting on themes that have arisen.

Creativity involves the generation of ideas that are novel, surprising, and compelling (Kaufman and Sternberg, 2010, 2019). Creative people are not only intellectually capable of coming up with such ideas; they are also people who have a creative attitude toward life (Sternberg, 2017) and approach problems insightfully (Davidson and Sternberg, 2003). They also are motivated to solve problems in a creative way (Dai and Sternberg, 2004; Hennessey, 2019). Although average levels of creativity may vary from one time or place to another (e.g., Niu and Sternberg, 2003; Baas, 2019; Ivcevic and Hoffmann, 2019; Lubart, Glăveanu et al., 2019), a major variable in creativity is simply a mindset toward thinking in novel, surprising, and compelling ways – and this mindset can be taught.

In recent decades, the regulation of technology and associated information has become an important and topical area of law, relevant to almost all aspects of society. Issues in technology law typically extend beyond specific jurisdictions and have state, national and international implications. Developments in one jurisdiction rapidly have international ramifications, due to the connectedness facilitated by the internet and modern communications technology. The areas of the law that are evolving due to technological developments are diverse: a preliminary list would include finance law, criminal law, medical law, media law and privacy law. New technology creates challenges, because when it becomes available, new regulatory gaps arise. For example, the emergence of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has required public agencies to issue guidelines as to whether they constitute forms of currency, and whether dealings using them are subject to taxation laws.1 Another example is the legislation enacted in the early 2000s to regulate the use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations. When these laws were enacted, the use of commercial ancestry databases and other modern techniques in genetic analysis to identify suspects in some high-profile contemporary cases was not envisaged.2

Creativity is a vast topic that can encompass so many different things. When we talk about creativity, we could be talking about a sudden moment of insight, a beautiful painting, Beyoncé, an improv group working together, a new printer that uses less ink, a child learning to tell a story, or a scientific equation. If we want to sort out how we can even try to study such a multifaceted concept, we need different theories that can propose how we can think about creativity, what are the necessary ingredients to be creative, how we can encourage ourselves or others to be creative, and so many other possible questions.

Emotions are fuel for creativity: from inspiration to do something creative, to determination for follow-through, and enjoyment of the finished product. Moreover, if emotions are fuel for creativity, we will demonstrate how certain personality traits, such as openness to experience, are akin to turbocharging the engine, lowering the threshold for creative thought and creative behavior. Emotion-related personality traits – tolerance of ambiguities and risks inherent in doing something new – are at the core of one’s willingness to make the decision to do something creative. Steve Jobs, for example, was famously willing to go on with plans for the iPad in spite of popular wisdom that people would not be interested in the device (Buchanan, 2013). Finally, we will propose that people need not be at the mercy of their personality nor emotional state, but rather can channel their personal experience into creativity through their ability to recognize, understand, and regulate emotions effectively.