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Digital North East
boosting the digital sector & its impact on the region’s economy
DRAFT RELEASE 0.4 - July 2009
 
One North East1
Digital North East – overview
WHATWorld-class digital sectors
For the North East to beaEuropean centre for digital sectors;using the region’s active network of sector support agencies and itsspecific sectoral strengths to drivegrowth & innovation, enhance theregion’s profile and attract skilledworkers and new businesses.
A major digital boost tothe wider economy
For North East business use of digital technology and media toovertake the UK average.
WHYCutting the GVA Gap
The North East’s ambitious productivity targets can only be achievedby transforming the digital landscape: getting a growing share of high-productivity digital sectors and ensuring a greater use of digitaltechnologies to boost productivity across the wider economy.
WHENBy2016HOW
Transformation will be delivered primarily by improving all areas of activity, particularly coordination; boosted by high-profile leadershipin specific fields (such as virtual world, local media).Change at this scale and speed can only be delivered througheffective partnership and requires comprehensive action focused onfive overlapping and inter-dependent themes:
Innovation, Infrastructure, Business Support, Skills andCulture & AttitudesWHO
Sector bodies:
Codeworks, DigitalCity, Sunderland Software City,Northern Film and Media
Business support bodies:
ONE, Business Link
Public sector:
local authorities, education, regulators and healthsectors
Knowledge sector:
Universities and colleges
Private sector:
The leaders, the growing businesses and the SMEs
National bodies:
TSB, sector skills councils
Third sector:
VONNE
 
One North East2
1.0A Digital North East
1.1.Why a strategy?
1.1.1.Digital media and technology are a keyfocus for central Government – boththrough the Digital Britain report and the New Industry, New Jobs agenda. Thishas set an important platform for The North East of England to accelerate its ownwork in developing the sector, particularly as the region has an added imperativeof closing its productivity gap (currently around 20%) with the rest of the country.Digital media and technology have a critical role in helping to close that gap in twoways: growth of the digital sectors themselves and better use of technologythroughout the rest of the economy.1.1.2.
Growing the digital sectors
:Digital industries are growing rapidly andare gene
 
rally high-productivity – as wellas having a major productivity benefit on other sectors – so the North East needsto take its share; growing the digital sectors is therefore a regional priority. Themedia and technology sides go hand-in-hand, technology driving new contentproduction and content driving digital adoption. Importantly, the region has keystrengths to build on, with a focus on gaming, software, digital agencies andcontent production. It has the only digital company on the FTSE 100 in Sage andit has active and well-networked sector bodies: DigitalCity, Sunderland SoftwareCity, Codeworks and Northern Film & Media.1.1.3.
Stimulating the wider economy
:Both the scale of challenge and the potential reward are great. About 25% of North East businesses do not use the internet, compared with 19% nationally(BERR, 2008), while e-Skills (Adroit, 2008) says more effective use of technologycould add 3.8% to the region’s GVA over the next 5 years. This is, of course, acomplex picture: the region has significant strengths and parts of the economyuse technology very well. However, developing and encouraging more innovativeuse at the top end is just as important as tackling under-use at the bottom end.1.1.4.This strategy builds on the discussion paper shared within the region in spring2009, which looked extensively at the evidence base to inform the way forward(and which now forms an Annex to this paper). It encompasses an outline set of interventions that will evolve into a more formal, agreed set of actions. This willbe the next stage of the strategy, with each of the key players in the regionestablishing what will be their contribution. Achieving the scale of change that isneeded means the region must be transformational, innovative and creative – butabove all it must be joined up, and this will require significant input andpartnership by all involved.
1.2.The aims
1.2.1.This strategy puts forward two intertwined aims:
expanding the digital sector
and
stimulating the region’s economythrough digital technology
. For thatreason, there are two overarching objectives:
For the North East to be a European centre for digital sectors; using theregion’s active network of sector support agencies and its specific sectoralstrengths to drive growth & innovation, enhance the region’s profile andattract skilled workers and new businesses.For North East business use of digital technology to overtake the UK average.
1.2.2.For maximum impact, these aims need to share the Regional Economic Strategytarget of 2016. This is highly challenging and requires the regional partners andstakeholders working together on five overlapping themes:
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