Big event aims to help Tayside economy grow
Up to 100 business, academic and community leaders from across Tayside will meet in Dundee on 25 April 2008 to agree an action plan to secure the long term prosperity of the region.
The Big Event is the first of its kind to be held in Tayside and is being organised by Scottish Enterprise to gain buy-in from the private sector to the vision for economic development which the enterprise, investment and innovation agency has been pulling together through a series of consultation exercises this year.
This consultation came in response to the Scottish Government's economic strategy. It aims to develop a collaborative approach to economic development in the region, which would be driven by the needs and opportunities within the successful priority industries such as life sciences, financial services, tourism, food and drink and digital media.
A series of workshops held with 60 key figures in the priority industries in Tayside came up with a picture of how Tayside's economy could look in five to 10 years. The next step will be for those taking part in the Big Event to enhance and extend this description of the future, agree through round table discussions the steps needed to get there and say what role they will play in the process.
Chaired by Professor Malcolm Horner, previously chairman of Scottish Enterprise in Tayside, the event at the Hilton Hotel will feature keynote speaker Gordon Hewitt, adjunct professor of business administration at the University of Michigan on the subject of new frameworks for competitive advantage.
Professor Horner said: "The event aims to ensure the vision captured so far this year meets the needs of business and will create the right conditions for growth and diversification to help Tayside play its part in Scotland's economic growth.
"Businesses are the real drivers of growth and creators of wealth and without active engagement from the private sector, the vision of long-term prosperity cannot be achieved.
"But for businesses to succeed, we need alignment of objectives across the private and public sectors. We are fortunate in this region to have a public sector well-used to working collaboratively to bring about the conditions needed for economic development and the event will give a significant opportunity to take this approach to a new level".
Research commissioned by Scottish Enterprise into the Dundee city region earlier this year found recent years had seen:
- A rebalancing of the economy away from dependency on manufacturing with growth now driven by private services
- Economic growth matching the Scottish average
- Rising employment levels - higher than Scottish and UK averages
- Net growth in the total stock of businesses, particularly in the business service and property-related sectors, showing a more competitive environment for non-manufacturing sectors
- Generally relatively low innovation and export levels, with a need for greater links between universities and businesses to drive commercialisation
The research from Experian found growing the key sectors of life sciences, digital media and financial services as well as driving population growth were at the heart of the regionals economic challenge over coming years.
Researchers said the city regions strategic weakness was population growth - needed to increase the labour supply and boost demand for local goods and services. It concluded key policy and infrastructure interventions and developments would be vital to increasing the regions pull as an attractive place to live, work and do business.
The findings said: "There are signs that Dundee City Region is experiencing a turnaround - the life science, digital media and creative industries sectors (key knowledge-intensive sectors that attract talented workers) are increasing in importance and the private service sector generally (for example financial services, business services and communications) are building momentum and accounting for an increasing share of output and employment in the city region economy."
They also concluded key developments in the pipeline such as Dundee Waterfront Master Plan will play a crucial role in developing the quality and scale of office provision needed for further growth.