Ulster Unionist Economy Spokesperson Sandra Overend MLA has voiced her concern at the results released by The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) which announce that Northern Ireland has the second lowest business innovation activity rate of the UK and calls for greater efforts to encourage and support business innovation.

The Mid Ulster MLA said:

“The results of the 2011 UK Innovation Survey released by NISRA highlighted some of the achievements of Northern Ireland thus far while highlighting the need to ensure that sufficient resources are in place to encourage and support more innovation.  

It is certainly a concern that Northern Ireland has the second lowest business innovation activity rate in the UK regions and counties as this means just over one quarter of businesses in Northern Ireland are innovating.

The UK Innovation Survey of 2011 indicates that twenty seven per cent of businesses in Northern Ireland were actively innovating during the period 2008-2010. While it must be recognised that this period coincides with the negative downturn of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate meaning that conditions were less favourable for innovation, given that the overall UK average figure sits at thirty-one per cent it is apparent that Northern Ireland has some catching up to do.

The Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee recently published its inquiry into ‘Developing the Northern Ireland Economy through Innovation, Research & Development’ and this report was vigorously debated in the Assembly which served to provide a clearer direction for the necessary way ahead. The debate highlighted the scale of the challenge in that Northern Ireland currently has the lowest rate of investment in Research and Development and this has a knock-on effect on the levels of innovation.

It is only through research and development that we can facilitate innovation and lay firm building blocks for a strong economy. It is imperative that we utilise all opportunities available in order to stimulate Northern Ireland’s economic growth. In particular there is a need to focus on drawing down as much financial assistance as possible for research and development from the various European funding streams, such as the EU FP7 or Horizon 2020.

Horizon 2020 will be the European Union’s new programme for research and innovation, and with a worth of approximately €80 billion it will be the largest research and innovation funding stream anywhere in the world. It offers a fantastic opportunity for Northern Ireland’s economy and if used appropriately could facilitate growth and job creation through innovation.”

ENDS