This week, we visited the International Security Expo in London. It was co-located with the International Cyber Expo (which decided to destroy its brand reputation for all time by keeping up a giant, illuminated sign, for taking selfies in front of, that said “ICE”).

Security can be a contentious topic. Often people say “security” when they really mean “control”. Security ultimately should result in more freedom. If you’re less free than you were before, what you’re doing isn’t security. Timothy Snyder talks a lot about this.

To be creative with any consistency, you need security. First, you need to eat and pay the rent – the “starving artist” isn’t an artist for very long. Security might also mean all your gear is insured and RFID’d. And it could also mean being able to rely on your industry or employer to not hang you out to dry when things get challenging.

In every field, at every level, the creative industries (always a bit precarious to begin with) are becoming less predictable and less secure. Just ask Jimmy Kimmel and Karen Attiah.

Creativity and culture are a non-negotiable requirement for living as a human on planet Earth. For them to thrive and grow, they need a secure space, they need stability. Saying that hard times create great art, is a misunderstanding of cause and effect. World War One didn’t create great poets. It killed great poets.

There are a lot of utterly brilliant organizations and people – and tech – working to keep creative businesses and their work, and their people, safe. But the most important ingredient is the cooperation, collaboration, and solidarity between colleagues. Let’s keep working, but keep watching each others’ backs while we’re doing it.