Comment: We have to support all businesses

Jun 25 2009 by Stewart Watkins, The Journal

I WAS pleased to host a European Commission delegation from Brussels to NETPark this week. The delegation came to see how a community focused project part funded by the EU will open up career opportunities and raise awareness of science and innovation in County Durham.

NETPark has the capability to create thousands of jobs and it is essential that we can draw upon local communities to supply this workforce.

Using NETPark as a hub, the initiative aims to provide community science activities, facilitate links between schools and science-based businesses and provide support for careers advisers to highlight the range of opportunities in science, engineering and technology (SET).

NETPark is one of seven Innovation Connectors identified by One North East as having the greatest potential for using innovation to stimulate economic regeneration. These seven places are the North East Technology Park (NETPark), the Design Centre for the North, Digital City in the Tees Valley, the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC), Newcastle Science City, Sunderland Software City and the Wilton Centre. These centres have all been highlighted by One North East because of their cutting edge facilities for research and development and their innovation-focused support geared towards the needs of SMEs with high growth potential and their supply chains. One of the most important aims of the innovation connectors in relation to the audit mentioned above is to raise community awareness related to the science and technology sectors and to promote employment opportunities linked directly to Innovation Connector projects.

NETPark is active in hosting community awareness events. Previous initiatives such as Sciencelive@NETPark brought members of the public to the site to engage with science and technology first hand and to get an understanding of what goes on at the park.

Now NETPark has a virtual community, NETPark Net, which allows us to extend the offerings of NETPark throughout County Durham. NETPark Net offers business support, one-to-one workshops, events and the sharing of information to help innovative businesses to flourish.

It is not enough to establish facilities purely for the high-end, we have to create opportunities for all businesses. The best way to achieve this is to help them as much as we can to innovate and take their products to new levels.

Stewart Watkins is managing director of the County Durham Development Company