Great North Revolution aims to transform the region
Jun 10 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
Digital media and creative
A NETWORK of world leading digital companies to rival the likes of Silicon Valley could one day be a North East reality.
Already the region has a major digital industry, with companies such as software giant Sage leading the way.
Regeneration bosses are now looking to support the growing sector and believe that, with the right levels of commitment and coordination, the region could become a recognised global centre for the digital sectors, acting as a magnet for skilled workers and new businesses.
The use of technology by all businesses can also overtake the UK average and both these aims are achievable within 10 years.
Andy Allan, chairman of regional digital industry body Codeworks, has urged companies and politicians to do all they can to ensure the region is not left behind.
He said: " If we don't take this on board we will be left looking back over our shoulders at the former glories of shipbuilding and coal mining."
New energy
RENEWABLE energy and climate change technologies have already helped transform the face of North East business.
The region’s success in the production and maintenance of wind turbines, especially offshore, will be used to build a global reputation in new energy technologies.
As well as wind-based energy there is potential for jobs and investment in clean coal, bio-energy, community based systems and photovoltaics.
Experts say the region's industrial heritage is also critical to its future success. It has a legacy of engineering skills, a culture that readily grasps large-scale projects and it has the right infrastructure.
The ports and shipbuilding facilities that were once central to the region's past are critical for its new industrial future.
Chris Pywell, head of strategic economic change at One North East, said: "Energy is one of the region's great strengths and great opportunities. It is vital that the region as a whole understands the opportunity and benefits."
Healthcare
AT present some of the world’s leading life science experts live and work in the North East while thousands of families suffer under the UK’s worst health conditions.
Health bosses say they want to change that within a decade, and then build on their groundbreaking work to take their treatments to the rest of the world.
Experts say our ageing population presents a major challenge for the healthcare industry but meeting those problems head-on could provide major opportunities.
The region already has world-leading research and clinical practice.
Opportunities will include such areas as diagnostics, technology to assist people suffering from dementia and regenerative medicine.
Neil Mundy, a board member of the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "I cannot imagine goals more important for the region than improving the health and wellbeing of the people of the North East and developing our healthcare economy."
Low carbon transportation
THE North East is positioning itself at the forefront of the global shift to electrical cars, lorries and vans.
Studies are already ongoing to see how the North East can best invest in the technology and infrastructure needed to roll out a new generation of environmentally-friendly vehicles.
If successful, the creation of region-wide charging points could become a model followed by the rest of the world, with the cars using those plug-in points potentially produced at Nissan’s Sunderland plant.
The region's strengths in energy, fuels, materials and automotive engineering are creating new opportunities for low-carbon transportation.
Matthew Lumsden, business development director at North energy consultants TNEI, said: "Low carbon transport and the supporting infrastructure will become fundamental to the way we all behave, and North East leadership at this early stage will open up a global opportunity - we all need to make this happen".
New materials and processes
TO the casual observer the process and materials industry may not at first seem like an industry to throw the region’s hopes behind, but the North East is actually home to a phenomenally creative research sector.
Plastic electronics with a mind-boggling array of uses from clothing to drug delivery, bio-fingerprinting that can take instant DNA samples at the touch of a glass, and engineering at the molecular level are just some of the products causing experts to predict huge growth across the sector.
Indeed the region's materials and process industries are already vital to the North East's economy and to that of the country as a whole.
Now the attention is turning to growing the sector with help for local businesses.
Nigel Perry, chief executive at process research group CPI, said: "As mankind demands a more sustainable lifestyle, the North East will continue to provide solutions."
