Lancashire Economic Partnership
InfoLab21
InfoLab21 is Lancaster University's world-class research, development and business centre for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). It is a well equipped, high-tech environment shared by academic research staff, research students and businesses.
An entire wing of InfoLab21 is dedicated to the Knowledge Business Centre (KBC), which acts as an innovation hub, providing a gateway for business/academic interaction and transfers expertise between InfoLab21's academics, regional businesses and community partnerships through industry training and technology transfer activities.
The Knowledge Business Centre has provided support to over four hundred regional companies, established a network of over three hundred ICT related businesses that are Associates of InfoLab21 and created and supports six regional cluster groups of ICT companies.
www.infolab21.lancs.ac.uk
“We are working very hard to support the roll-out of the clusters across Lancashire. It proves a great opportunity for knowledge to transfer out from the Higher Education Institutions into the business community and we can help ICT and New Media companies access the services that will allow them to benefit from this.”
Steve Riches, Director of the Knowledge Business Centre, InfoLab21.
Contact:
For more information about InfoLab21 contact Business Development Officers Nick or Colin:
Nick King/Colin McLaughlin
01524 510447/3
n.king@lancaster.ac.uk
c.i.mclaughlin@lancaster.ac.uk
To become an Associate of InfoLab21, tap into InfoLab21 support and activities and take advantage of the eMarketing benefits of having a weblink from the InfoLab21 site, submit your profile online:
Associate Company Scheme
Business Link Northwest
Business Link is a government-funded service designed to promote enterprise.
www.businesslinknw.co.uk
"Through the Lancaster ICT Cluster, businesses are finding they are better equipped to take advantage of market trends and the latest developments through working with other companies, institutions such as Lancaster University, service providers and educational establishments where they share best practice and knowledge."
Sue Denver, ICT Adviser at Business Link Lancashire.
Lancashire Economic Partnership
LEP was formed to promote economic growth and prosperity throughout Lancashire and has developed from a merger of the Lancashire West Partnership and East Lancashire Partnership.
LEP operates primarily at a strategic level, managing sub-regional projects where appropriate. The primary roles of LEP are to lead on the development, implementation and review of the Lancashire Economic Strategy which complements the Regional Economic Strategy for the North West. LEP also acts as the vehicle for the delivery of the Central Lancashire City Region Development Programme – part of the Government’s Northern Way initiative.
LEP represents the geographic area served by the twelve Lancashire district councils, two unitary authorities (Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen), and Lancashire County Council, speaking with a single voice.
Lancashire Economic Partnership’s Director of Strategy & Business Development, Nick Briggs, who chairs the ICT Clusters Steering Group said,
"The Partnership is delighted to have been involved with the creation of the new clusters website and fully supports its aims. Research carried out in the North West indicates that maximising the implementation of ICT can make a significant contribution to increasing GVA in all economic sectors thus we need to encourage more companies to take up and exploit the available ICT. The work of the Lancashire and Cumbria ICT Clusters is invaluable in meeting this objective."
To find out more about LEP work in developing and promoting Lancashire as a great place to invest, live, work and visit see website www.lancashire-ep.org.uk
