A plan, developed in the East Midlands to help businesses become more successful, will feature prominently tomorrow (7 October) in Brussels, when over 7,000 people from across Europe gather to discuss economic development.
Amreesh Mishra and Martin French, of the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), have been invited to talk about the region’s innovation strategy during Open Days, a three day event to be held during the European Week of Regions and Cities.
The pair from emda’s Innovation Team will be showcasing the success of the Regional Innovation Strategy, which sets out a plan for stimulating companies in the East Midlands to become more profitable by developing and implementing new ideas.
Now in its seventh year, Open Days is a key event in the European Union’s calendar as it provides a forum for representatives from both the private and public sector as well universities to come together and share best practice in terms of regional development.
“We feel very honoured to be invited to talk about the work being undertaken by the Agency’s Innovation Team and the implementation of a Regional Innovation Strategy,” says Martin, Head of Innovation at emda. “As well as Amreesh and myself, there will be representatives from Italy and The Netherlands talking about their efforts to improve and encourage innovation within their region, so I am sure we will be returning to the East Midlands with some new ideas of our own, which is what Open Days is all about.”
Since its inception, the Regional Innovation Strategy has helped many businesses become more profitable and successful by providing them with a range of innovation support services.
“We’ve worked very hard to provide innovation support to companies across our region,” adds Amreesh, Team Manager Policy & Partner Relations. “With support from East Midlands Innovation, the region’s science and industry council, we’ve developed and implemented a strategy that has helped hundreds of East Midlands businesses. We’ve strengthened the relationship with the region’s universities and connected their excellent research and development work with practical commercial uses. We’ve developed eminnovation.org, the region’s innovation portal, and awarded grants worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. We’ve also helped people access European funding, through a unique FP7 service.”
The three Open Days programme of events features nearly 100 conferences, seminars and meetings, with many other events being staged across Europe throughout October, providing an opportunity for organisations and communities to discuss sustainable development and innovation as part of a wider, cohesive, programme of investment and development in Europe’s regions and cities.
-ENDS-
Issued on behalf of the East Midlands Development Agency by Lava. For further information contact Matt at Lava on 01522 842800 / matt@lavapr.co.uk
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Notes to editors:
About emda
East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.
Ten years on, independent evaluation shows emda has:
Had a significant impact on the region’s economy
Generated economic benefits that substantially outweigh its overall costs
Put back over £9 of economic output (or GVA) into the regional economy for every £1 it spends
Produced more than £1 billion in economic benefits per year
A wider impact on people, places and businesses in the East Midlands that cannot be captured by figures alone.
emda is committed to supporting the region through the current downturn and has put in place a range of measures to provide real help during these challenging times.
Over the long term, emda’s aim is to deliver the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy (RES) by working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations. The RES highlights the themes of productivity, sustainability and equality and sets out key priorities until 2020 to ensure the vision for ‘a flourishing region’ can be achieved.
For more details visit www.emda.org.uk
About East Midlands Innovation
East Midlands Innovation is the Regional Science and Industry Council which was established in 2005 by emda.
East Midlands Innovation’s principle responsibility is to take the lead for emda in implementing the Innovation Strategy and Action Plan for the East Midlands with the aim to grow a long term, sustainable, innovation-led economy.
About iNets
In order to deliver the Regional Innovation Strategy and coordinate action under its four themes, emda and East Midlands Innovation have created four business led innovation networks (iNets) which are focused on the identified regional industry and research strengths across four priority sectors. These have been identified as:
• Healthcare and Bioscience
• Food and Drink
• Sustainable Construction
• Transport Equipment
The iNets are raising the level of innovation in their sectors, with the aim of stimulating the research and development of new products, services and processes.
For further information, visit www.eminnovation.org.uk
About the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
The ERDF Programme aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by supporting regional economic development.
The ERDF objectives for England are:
Promoting innovation and knowledge transfer
Stimulating enterprise and supporting successful business
Ensuring sustainable development, production and consumption
Building sustainable communities
Improving accessibility and connectivity (for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly only – as part of their Convergence Programme).
A Programme Monitoring Committee consisting of regional stakeholders such as Government Offices, RDAs, Regional Assemblies, Local Authorities, Sub-regional Partnerships, Higher Education Institutions, Trade Unions, and the private and voluntary sectors will monitor and oversee programme implementation in each region.
For more information on ERDF funding generally, please visit or
http://www.communities.gov.uk/citiesandregions/european/europeanregionaldevelopment/
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/feder/index_en.htm
About ERDF in the East Midlands
The East Midlands is eligible for 268.5m Euros between 2007 and 2013, which, when combined with match funding, provides a programme value of approximately £420m – a significant investment in the economic development of the region.
The East Midlands qualifies as a competitiveness and employment region under the EU’s Cohesion Policy, which aims to meet the EU Lisbon objective to become ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social inclusion.’
East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is responsible for the programme management and delivery of the region’s 2007-13 ERDF Competitiveness Programme. The responsibility for the ERDF programme management was transferred from the Government Office for the East Midlands (GOEM) to emda following a decision by the UK Government to seek greater alignment between ERDF and regional strategies and funding streams. The 2007-13 ERDF Programme is therefore set firmly within the framework of the Regional Economic Strategy.
A Programme Monitoring Committee, chaired by the Regional Director of Government Office for the East Midlands (GOEM), guides the strategic direction of the programme and works closely with emda.
To find out more about ERDF, the region’s strategy for delivering the funds, how to apply for funding and how the programme is managed, please visit www.eastmidlandserdf.org.uk
