MINUTES OF THE TWENTY-FIRST meeting

 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORUM, 1 SEPTEMBER 2004

NI SCIENCE PARK

 

Present:            See attached list (Annex 1)

 

Apologies:         John Spellar, Doreen Brown, Richard Sterling, Lord Rana, Patricia McKeown, Peter Bunting, Jim McCusker, Lawrence Smyth

 

1.                  Welcome and Apologies / Minutes of Last Meeting            EDF 21/1

 

1.1               The Minister welcomed those present and noted the apologies.  He thanked Bob Barbour and the Centre for Competitiveness for hosting the meeting at the NI Science Park and advised members of a number of recent changes to membership, namely: David Dobbin had replaced Ian McMorris as the CBI representative and Lord Rana had replaced Stephen Kingon as the NI Chamber of Commerce and Industry representative.

 

1.2               The Minister also advised members that this would be Denis Rooney’s last meeting as the IOD representative and that Michael Maguire would represent IOD at future Forum meetings.  On behalf of all members, the Minister expressed the sincere gratitude of the Forum in recognition of the enthusiastic and valuable contributions made by Denis, Ian and Stephen.

 

1.3               A number of minor amendments to the minutes of the meeting held on 9 June 2004 were noted and agreed, without further amendment.

 

1.4               The Minister advised members that most of the action points from the June 2004 meeting would be dealt with on the main agenda.  He did, however, ask members to note that the presentation on the role of Government Procurement Service and a presentation on careers provision, as requested by members at the June meeting, would be included on the agenda for the December 2004 meeting.  The Minister also reported that DETI economists would continue to work with policy colleagues and Invest NI, through the Departmental Research Protocol, to explore the feasibility of revising the research framework along the lines suggested by members at the June meeting and indicated that progress would be reported to a future meeting of the Forum.

 

1.5               The Minister invited Professor Monds to update members regarding progress by Invest NI in examining how best to strengthen existing arrangements for the exchange of knowledge / contacts with NI-CO.  Professor Monds advised members that there was ongoing activity between NI-CO and Invest NI with close contact at both strategic and operational levels.  He also reported that Invest NI was in the process of reviewing activities over the past year in order to identify gaps and best practice.  Professor Monds assured members that the relationship between the two organisations was effective in seeking out business opportunities for both the public and private sectors of NI.

 

2.                  Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) Action Plan            EDF 21/2

 

2.1               The Minister invited Mark Pinkerton to give a presentation on the development of the Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) Action Plan.

 

2.2               Mr Pinkerton reminded members that a copy of the draft RIS Action Plan was included with their meeting papers along with the Executive Summary of the AD Little report into business expenditure on R&D.  He then presented a brief overview of work to date in developing the Action Plan outlining achievements to date and setting the policy context in terms of both the UK and NI.  Mr Pinkerton highlighted some of the key findings of the research by AD Little.  He stated that NI could not afford to focus resources on all fields of science and technology and advised members that the priority technologies identified for the period 2004-06 were ICT; biotechnology; aerospace technology; nano-technology; and agri-food technology.

 

2.3       Mr Pinkerton highlighted key areas of the Action Plan which would support implementation of the UK policy in terms of resourcing R&D and Innovation, supporting technology transfer and developing awareness of Intellectual Property management.  He also outlined plans for managing and improving networks which would lead the regional innovation system, promote cross-sectoral collaborations and enhance interregional networks.

 

2.4               During the discussion which ensued, members acknowledged that NI had already made considerable progress, particularly in terms of improving the R&D infrastructure, and suggested that this should be reflected in the Action Plan.  The importance of effective support systems to assist SMEs to undertake R&D was emphasised and it was suggested that Invest NI Client Executives would have a key role to play in terms of encouraging and championing R&D within local companies.

 

2.5               Members recognised the crucial role for the further education sector in assisting SMEs with R&D activity and noted that this should be reflected in the Action Plan.  Members also discussed the need to promote innovation in the broadest sense and to encourage local SMEs to be innovative in improving their products, processes and services.  It was noted that Invest NI, in partnership with DEL, would be undertaking an innovation audit which would examine existing programmes of support, particularly those directed at near market product and process development.

 

2.6               It was agreed that the comments from members would be taken into account by DETI in finalising the Action Plan.  The importance of ensuring broad support from Government Departments in taking forward this work was emphasised and members were encouraged to stress this in their ongoing dealings with all Departments to encourage the cross-fertilisation of strategies and programmes.

 

3.                  MTSPs Sub-group Report            EDF 21/3

 

3.1               The Minister invited Seamus McAleavey to present the Sub-group’s report.  Mr McAleavey advised that the MTSPs framework had been further revised to reflect comments received from members and from Invest NI, DEL, DE and DRD.  He explained that the framework now recommended by the Sub-group was presented in the form of a traditional business process model which set out the drivers of change, intermediate objectives and goals.

 

3.2               Mr McAleavey also highlighted the fact that, although a number of the original EDF targets would be removed from the new framework, there would be instances where individual organisations would continue to target and monitor progress in these areas.  By way of example, Mr McAleavey drew members’ attention to Annex A to the Sub-group report which highlighted a number of key areas which, although removed from the EDF framework, would remain an important focus for Government Departments.  Members were content with the revised MTSPs framework as recommended by the Sub-group.

 

3.3               Mr McAleavey advised that the Sub-group considered it vital that the Forum be as open and transparent as possible in explaining the changes made to the original MTSPs framework and, importantly, the rationale for such changes, particularly where targets were to be removed.  Members agreed that the tables detailing the changes and rationale for the revised structure should be included as an annex to the Forum’s 2^nd annual statement due to be published in early 2005.

 

3.4               Members also agreed that the Sub-group should make arrangements to engage with key economic commentators to explain the changes to the framework and the review process generally.  The proposed outline content for the 2^nd annual statement was also endorsed and members noted the Sub-group’s intention to provide an update on the specific target values for the December 2004 meeting.

 

ACTION:    MTSPs Sub-group to make arrangements for a media brief and to prepare a draft of the 2^nd annual statement for consideration by EDF.

 

Economic Vision

 

3.5               Mr Robinson updated members on progress in developing the economic vision document and thanked members for the contributions they had made to date in this regard.  He advised that the current draft stopped short of setting targets and that the intention was to draw appropriate targets from the MTSPs framework, when agreed by EDF, supplemented by key targets from various Government strategies.  Mr Robinson advised that, when further developed, the vision document would sit alongside the Priorities and Budget document scheduled to be issued for consultation in late September.

 

3.6               During the discussion which ensued, members suggested a number of drafting amendments to the document.  Key concerns included the need to make explicit reference to increasing exports and visitors numbers and to address the economic impact of the high inactivity rate in NI.  Members acknowledged that the issues of labour and skills shortages in NI would be a major hurdle for potential inward investors and that education reform would be central to economic growth.

 

3.7               Members welcomed the development of the vision document and, in particular, the process of wide engagement in taking this forward.

 

4.                  DEL Research            EDF 21/4

 

4.1               The Minister invited Will Haire to present the paper on the DEL Research Agenda.  Victor Dukelow, DEL Economist, joined the meeting for this item.

 

4.2               Mr Haire presented the paper to members, pointing out that DEL had a strong tradition of research and was keen to take the views of the Forum on the proposed research agenda which is due to be published in October 2004.  He outlined the management arrangements for research within DEL, highlighted the overall aims, and summarised the areas which had been identified for further research.

 

4.3               During discussion, members acknowledged that there were a number of new topics on the research agenda, including employment law and the tribunal system, and emphasised the importance of being clear on the intended outcomes of the various research projects and how these might be utilised to best effect.  It was also noted that the role of the FE sector, in terms of technology transfer, should be considered when developing the research agenda.

 

4.4               Members noted that many aspects of the proposed research agenda would be integral to DEL policy formulation and development and that the agenda would be updated on a rolling cycle tied into the business planning process.  It was also noted that DEL had established a research steering group to oversee the management and delivery of the research and to ensure that this was effectively integrated into the policy-making cycle.

 

5.                  Enterprise Sub-group – Residual Issues            EDF 21/5

 

5.1               Members noted the written update provided in relation to the ongoing fiscal incentives project and plans for a meeting on 7 September to examine remaining concerns raised by members in relation to the shadow economy.  A further update will be provided at the December 2004 meeting.

 

6.                  Update on Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform            EDF 21/6

 

6.1               The Minister welcomed Mark McLean, DARD, and invited him to update members on progress in relation to CAP reform since this was last discussed at the Forum meeting in December 2003.  Mr McLean presented the DARD paper which also explained to members the current status of the Food Strategy Report that was being considered by the DARD and DETI Ministers.  Members were also updated on ongoing work aimed at improving DARD’s interface with customers.

 

6.2               During discussion, members raised concerns about the potential impact of World Trade Organisation developments on the food processing industry and the importance of effectively driving marketing and innovation in the food sector.  Mr Robinson acknowledged the important contribution the agricultural sector made to the local economy and indicated that the Food Strategy Report, and the Government response to it, would be included on the agenda for the December meeting.

 

ACTION: Secretariat to include the Food Strategy Report, and the Government response, on the December 2004 agenda

 

7.                  Progress Reports            EDF 21/7

 

7.1               Members noted the written progress report in relation to the DRD focussed assessment of the Regional Development Strategy.  In relation to the update provided on the Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS), members requested that further information on the timeframe for implementation of the Strategy be made available.

 

ACTION: DRD, via the Secretariat, to provide members with an update on the timeframe for implementation of the RTS

 

7.2               Members noted the written progress report on the DEL Employability Taskforce work and the DETI Key Issues paper.

 

8.                  Any Other Business

 

8.1               Mr Robinson drew members’ attention to the DTI consultation exercise on the EU Commission’s proposals for regional aid guidelines post 2006 and informed members that responses were due by 6 September.  He encouraged members to avail of this opportunity to make known their views on this subject and to highlight the potential implications for NI.

 

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ANNEX 1

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORUM MEETING – 1 SEPTEMBER 2004