Northern Ireland: A Testbed for Global Innovation, brought together key businesses and policymakers to discuss the importance of collaboration between higher education, business and government in unlocking Northern Ireland’s full economic potential in advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences, aerospace, and digital and creative industries. 

It follows a recent formal partnership agreement, cementing further collaboration between the two organisations.

Dr Ryan Feeney, Vice-President and Registrar at Queen’s said:

“Queen’s, along with our trusted partner, the Northern Ireland Chamber, are critical institutions in delivering the UK Government’s Plan for Change. This event recognises the strength of a ‘triple-helix’ approach between higher education, business, and policymakers when it comes to maximising our economic impact on a UK-wide basis.

“Bringing business and industry together, and combining Queen’s world-class research and innovation, with NI Chamber’s significant policy influence, seeks to strengthen evidence-based insights and partnerships to deliver growth and prosperity for Northern Ireland and beyond.”

The event highlighted the need for effective policy decisions on areas and issues that are essential to delivering the UK’s Industrial Strategy and Growth Mission in Northern Ireland. These include the impact of the Windsor Framework on trade, competitiveness across the island of Ireland, and Northern Ireland’s growth capacity over the next 10 years.

Addressing party members in Liverpool’s ACC, Suzanne Wylie, Chief Executive, NI Chamber said:

“This government has said that growth is its number one ambition. In the past year, Northern Ireland has outperformed the UK - we are here today with Queen’s University to talk about what is driving that and what more we can do. 

“As a region, Northern Ireland is the ideal place for testing new ideas. Whether that is in advanced manufacturing or AI, we are big enough to demonstrate impact but small enough to get things done quickly. But there is so much more that government can do, from easing red tape to ensuring our voice is heard in the delivery of the Industrial Strategy.”

Queen’s also called for effective application of the UK Treasury’s public expenditure allocation to Northern Ireland (determined through the Barnett formula) to result in appropriate ring-fencing of Research and Development funding.

Whilst competitive research income has reached a record high, the Northern Ireland Executive’s spending on Research & Development, and funding for Queen’s research, have remained flat, meaning that in real terms, these have effectively declined over the past 15 years.  

The Labour-fringe partnership event builds on Queen’s commitment to acting as a convening space for business, politics, and academia to shape solutions to global challenges. In the past year alone, the University has hosted the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils’ Global Innovation Summit, and an Economic Forum on how AI could boost Northern Ireland as a global economic powerhouse.

The University contributes over £3.3 billion annually to the UK economy, with an 8:1 return on every pound invested. Queen’s has also launched more than 100 spin-out companies, employing around 4,500 people, and is ranked second in the UK for entrepreneurial impact. 

Media

For media enquiries contact alana.fisher@qub.ac.uk