Member Article

Businesses to hear Information Economy Strategy in Leeds

Enterprise leaders in the North East will be amongst the first to hear the detail of the UK Government’s new Information Economy Strategy when they gather at the Intelligent Cities conference in Leeds on June 19th.

The topic, sometimes known as the ‘Digital Economy’ or ‘information Society’, has become a major focus in the search for economic revitalisation.

Paul Hadley, Deputy Director at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) will give a keynote address at the event in Leeds detailing the new strategy document unveiled today.

Secretary of State Vince Cable MP said: “ …it involves investing in digital infrastructure, such as broadband, and creating the security and privacy frameworks necessary to enable innovation and growth. It requires concerted action to address skills shortages, which are serious in computer engineering for example. Above all, it means helping British businesses of all kinds to embrace digital technologies and accelerate the transformation they can bring to relatively untouched sectors like education and construction.“

This may be a central government view of the UK economy but, as Lord Heseltine’s recent report noted, the acid test for these new strategies will be in the way that they are locally translated into programmes and actions in cities and communities across the UK

The Intelligent Cities conference is hosted by Leeds & Partners with support from Leeds City Council at the Rose Bowl, Leeds Metropolitan University, on June 19th.

The conference programme details can be found via the NextGen website. The conference will also include an address by Rohit Talwar – globally acclaimed futurist – and inputs from Cisco, IBM, Ericsson, City Fibre, the NHS and many others.

The Intelligent Cities conference is sponsored by Leeds & Partners and supported by Leeds City Council.

Leeds venue: The University’s Rose Bowl building is located behind the Civic Hall on Portland Way, with the main entrance located on the lower level of the building.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Brunnen .