Major industrial strategy launch
THE West Midlands could step away from its reputation as a manufacturing hub to become a global leader in driverless cars, the creative industries and artificial intelligence.
That is according to the new industrial strategy published by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) last week.
Launched ahead of a five-week long consultation with businesses throughout the region, mayor Andy Street said the strategy was “about what places people will be working at in the future, and where the areas of opportunity are”.
He urged businesses across the region to “share their views on how to secure a prosperous future”.
The document makes ten ‘ commitments’ that could help drive the economy in the West Midlands in the foreseeable future. These include: A focus on a high quality and responsive regional skills system;
Being a region known for improvements to the natural environment, as well as for its choice of high quality housing;
Becoming the UK centre for innovation in new forms of transport such as electric vehicles, driverless vehicles (CAV) and battery manufacture;
Creating a top location for the creative sector with world leaders in gaming and innovative content producers for new platforms;
Becoming the UK’s leading exporting region, where businesses and people come to develop and build new products, processes and services;
Becoming the UK centre for health diagnostics, devices and testing and translational medicine, driven by artificial intelligence (AI);
The West Midlands becoming a globally renowned advanced manufacturing and engineering centre.
A focus on sustainable energy generation and ‘clean’ growth.
The result of months of research and work by the WMCA and the region’s three LEPs, the Local Industrial Strategy hopes to make the most of future investment in the region.
Birmingham Council leader Ian Ward said: “The West Midlands has always been a hotbed of creativity and our challenge now is to nurture the cutting edge companies and advanced manufacturers that play an increasingly vital role in our regional economy.
“But growth alone will not be enough. The Local Industrial Strategy must be about creating inclusive economic growth across the West Midlands and we must ensure that people have the skills needed to fill the new jobs being created.”
The Local Industrial Strategy Consultation document and the consultation survey, which ends on November 15, can be found at www.wmca.org.uk/what-we-do/ industrial-strategy/