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Taking a lead in electric vehicles
Posted by Deborah Cadman - chief executive - EEDA on 29 July 2010 4:02 PM
As the government promises to provide grants of up to £5,000 to motorists looking to buy electric vehicles, I was at the University of Hertfordshire today talking to partners about an ambitious bid that EEDA has been facilitating to secure funding to install a network of charging points for electric vehicles across the East of England.
The move to electric powered vehicles provides a massive opportunity for businesses in the East of England. At the heart of the bid is our plan to use the network as a catalyst for the region’s talent to develop new technologies, services, business models and industries.
The North East may have the manufacturing capability but when it comes to vehicle research, design and development then industry comes here – Caterpillar, Ford, General Motors, Lotus, Nissan and Ricardo have all put down roots in the region.
More than fifty public and private partners have already expressed support for the bid, including General motors, Visteon, Lotus, BAA Stansted, BT, Marshalls and Millbrook Proving Ground.
Having had an initial expression of interest shortlisted by the Office of Low Emission Vehicles we are now working towards submitting a full bid for funding by the end of October.
The bid represents everything that is great about the East of England, it’s bigger and bolder than many of the other bids, it capitalises on our existing strengths and capabilities, and it brings together the best of the private and public sector
There is still an opportunity to get involved.
We’d like to hear from businesses in the East of England that are keen to reduce their carbon emissions by operating electric vehicles and installing charging posts on their business premises.
To register your interest and find out more, please email: EValu8@futuretransportsystems.co.uk
I’m confident that we can catalyse an economic and environmental revolution in the East of England that will create a lasting legacy and thousands of jobs.
The East of England leads the way
Posted by David Morrall - director, Europe and International - EEDA on 05 April 2010 8:47 PM
I talked in my previous post about how we, in the East of England, can influence the future for a ‘greener social market’ in Europe.
In case you’re wondering why the European Commission would be at all bothered talking with a single UK region about this type of big picture planning, I can promise you that the prospect of working with people with direct (and successful) experience of this agenda, is very attractive and really exciting from where our colleagues sit in Brussels.
So, Europe’s EU 2020 strategy proposes an economy founded on growth and knowledge, with a target of three per cent of total economic output being invested in research and investment (R&D).
For Europe, getting to this position will be a real stretch; currently just 1.8 per cent is spent on R&D. In contrast, this region’s performance is 3.9 per cent and we top the UK regions on nine separate measures of innovation performance.
Equally, the East of England’s employment rates, now at 78 per cent, top the EU average of 69 per cent and exceed the EU 2020 target of 75 per cent.
We have the only ERDF Competitiveness Programme in Europe to be 100 per cent focussed on low carbon development. EU 2020 similarly envisages Europe’s shoots of recovery as being emphatically green, through the development of a low carbon economy and the exploitation of economic value from associated research and technologies.
In the East, we have a head start and much to share by virtue of our experience and research excellence in the field.
This puts us in a strong position to work with the European Commission and our own government in shaping EU 2020 and associated programmes.
Discussions with the European Commission continue and I’ll keep you updated as things develop.
Suffice to say, we have an exciting opportunity to build on our advantage.
Making evidence based policy a reality
Posted by Glenn Athey - director, Insight East - EEDA on 31 March 2010 11:27 AM
Dr Glenn Athey, director, Insight East, EEDA
I lead Insight East, the region’s economic intelligence centre and we’ve just published our annual review. This is our first one and it has been a bit of a baptism of fire since we launched the service a year ago, in the middle of stormy economic times.
Insight East built upon the work of the East of England Observatory and added a team of economists and analysts to undertake more research, briefing and intelligence for the region.
What’s perhaps just as important is that from March 2009 the East of England had a team of people on the ground who could meet, discuss and brief decision makers in the region in person.
My team at Insight East aims to better understand the region’s economy and the impacts of changes, such as the recession.
We share this understanding in a language that can be understood by all. As well as tracking changes in the economy, decision makers in the region needed to know the recession’s underlying causes and impacts.
In 2009, Insight East published 41 economic briefings, three main economic reports, two editions of the East of England Forecasting Model, and delivered two new regional intelligence services. You can read these reports here.
Key highlights were our Recession Impact study published in September, and studies on the innovation performance of the region; and how the region compares internationally on a range of international performance indicators. We also published 11 local economic profiles which provide a brief overview of the economic performance of each unitary and county authority area.
For the next 12 months, we will be focusing on the recovery, and also assessing some of the long standing challenges facing the East of England economy, such as skills. Our aim is to provide economic analysis and insight that is directly relevant to the big economic policy questions, in a language that everybody can understand.
A room with a EU
Posted by David Morrall - director, Europe and International - EEDA on 30 March 2010 9:01 AM
I’m fresh out of a series of seven meetings with different parts of the European Commission, all designed to promote the achievements of the European Union’s only low carbon ERDF Competitiveness Programme. Which happens to be right here in the East of England and is the reason why various units in the European Commission who deal with regional policy and climate change want to work with us a lot more closely.
So what is it about the programme that’s caught their eye? Answer: the evolution of the inobviously entitled ‘Lisbon Strategy’ now to be replaced with a re-modelled ‘EU 2020 Strategy’ .
This new strategy recognises the scale of devastation Europe has witnessed post-recession; 20 years of economic growth have been wiped off Europe since the global downturn. It focuses on five big targets with the ultimate aim of making Europe a smarter and greener social market. So out go ‘a one size fits all approach’ and a menu of ‘priorities’ so large as to be meaningless and in come specific targets, geared at EU Members State level to reflect individual circumstances.
Over the coming weeks and months EEDA will be focusing on what this means for our region and how we can influence the future. Feedback from the meetings I’ve just come out of has been encouragingly positive about the role the East of England can play in informing the debate. We’re in for some interesting times and I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, I’d be interested to hear your views, through the blog or by emailing me at erdf@eeda.org.uk, on how we can lever our competitive advantage in the development of a ‘greener social market’ and Europe’s EU 2020 Strategy. Or if you or your organisation feel you can contribute directly and suggest areas you’d like to get involved with, please do let me know.
Now I’ve got started on the blog trail, more thoughts on Europe and the international agenda will follow but it’ll be much more interesting if it evolves into a ‘conversation’ so please leave a comment or question!
A low carbon innovation revolution… right here in the making
Posted by Jeff Laidler - programme manager, low carbon innovation - EEDA on 24 March 2010 12:38 PM
The EEDA and Crown Estate offshore wind event promoting the opportunities of the offshore wind energy industry reinforced the obvious: as the ‘space for ideas’ region we are at the centre of a potential low carbon innovation revolution.
Here’s why. On the back of a major evidence base report we’ve been able to identify the region’s strengths and capabilities as well as opportunities for low carbon innovation. Read the rest of this entry »
The wind is in the East
Posted by Johnathan Reynolds - sustainable development manager - EEDA on 12 March 2010 10:06 AM
Last week we welcomed nearly 300 businesses and partners to Lowestoft to promote the opportunities of the offshore wind energy industry to businesses in the region and across the UK.
It was no surprise to me that there was standing room only at OrbisEnergy - the East of England is, after all, at the centre of the world’s largest market for offshore wind deployment and the UK’s most dense area of offshore wind energy development. That, coupled with the strengths and abilities built up over the last 40 years by the region’s offshore gas and oil industry, our strong automotive, marine and engineering sectors, and our world-class ports mean that companies in this region are perfectly placed to get their share of what could potentially be a £75 billion industry. Read the rest of this entry »
Manufacturing centre stage
Posted by Simon Coward - centre director - Hethel Engineering Centre on 01 March 2010 11:23 AM
I am thrilled to see the much improved manufacturing stop go live. Having been involved in its development, I knew it was coming so I won’t feign surprise but it’s arrival is great news for all of us who work in manufacturing or engineering. After all, until now, there has been no easy way to check out what’s happening in the East of England. Lots of people and organisations doing great things but no one place to go if you need to know the who, what, where and when of it all.
Of course it needs to stay current if it’s going to be properly useful in the long term but the news and events sections will help with that. I’m particularly pleased to see clusters getting a good showing. The Hethel team created the maps for low carbon automotive and energy and they’re a powerful way to communicate the expertise, supply chains and research and development capacity we have here in the region.
I know EEDA is keen for the site to continue to evolve so I would encourage you to take a look and get involved, either by submitting news and events or making a suggestion for additional info to go on the site by emailing businessupport@eeda.org.uk
At the end of the day, the more we (in the sector) contribute, the better and more current it will be.
Four people, four visits but only one day… in Norfolk
Posted by Deborah Cadman - chief executive - EEDA on 27 January 2010 10:28 AM
Four senior civil servants left the region on Monday with a very clear impression of the positive contribution that Norfolk makes to the UK economy.
In a visit designed to showcase some of the best of Norfolk, EEDA and other local partners including Shaping Norfolk’s Future, Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council delivered an action-packed schedule for policy chiefs from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
The day started at the Hethel Engineering Centre with a brief presentation from centre director, Simon Coward and a short tour of the site. Thanks to the flexibility of a couple of the companies operating at the site, the team was able to chat to businesses such as Sonar Link, Active Technologies and Scion Sprays. Read the rest of this entry »
January e-briefings
Posted by EEDA on 26 January 2010 3:39 PM
EEDA’s January e-briefings to businesses and partners are available to read online now.
In this edition: new EEDA chair, new Business Link and trade and inward investment support announced, Understanding Finance workshops, sweet success for manufacturers and more.
East of England on board the low carbon revolution
Posted by Johnathan Reynolds - sustainable development manager - EEDA on 26 January 2010 3:17 PM
Did you know that by 2020, the East of England could be generating enough low carbon electricity to power every home in the region?
Two weeks ago saw Gordon Brown and the Crown Estate announce the winning companies selected to develop offshore wind farms in nine sites across the UK – the second largest of which will be based in the ‘Norfolk Bank Zone’ and could yield around 7.2GW, which could provide enough clean, green energy for over 5 million homes.
About 1,000 turbines will be built on the site just off the Norfolk and north Suffolk coast, for what will be one of the world’s biggest offshore wind farms.
For me, it’s another jewel in the crown for this region – a region which has been leading the way in the renewable energy sector. We know that moving towards a low-carbon economy is a necessity, not a choice, and the announcement that developers hope to have the offshore wind farm projects up and running between 2015 and 2020, is a real statement of intent by the Government.
The East of England – and in particular places like Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Harwich and Tilbury – have so much to offer these prospective offshore windfarm developers. Already this region is establishing itself as a focal point for the renewable energy sector, as the recent opening of OrbisEnergy at Lowestoft demonstrates. Read the rest of this entry »
