Robust evidence from sound research is vital to underpin economic development and potential job creation, according to Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry.
Speaking at the launch of his department’s Implementation Plan and a report into evaluating research into economic growth, he said a multi-disciplinary approach was crucial to engage business leaders, policy makers and academics.
The Minister continued: “I have published my Department’s Implementation Plan for future research work and an evaluation report on the delivery of research.
A key recommendation from that evaluation is that building strong engagement with others will allow us to learn from research produced locally and from across the globe.
“The Implementation Plan identifies 29 research areas to support policy development and delivery in key priority areas including labour mobility research, investigating the role of skills in narrowing the productivity gap with the UK and other leading countries, and undertaking research to support the review of Employment Law.”
The Implementation Plan also sets out how the research projects flowing from the Department’s Research Agenda will be prioritised.
Dr Farry concluded: “We want the research which my Department commissions to help us harness the creativeness and knowledge of the research community, here and elsewhere, so that robust evidence continues to underpin economic policy development and delivery.”
The launch of these key reports coincided with a national research conference held at Belfast Metropolitan College’s Titanic Quarter campus. The conference entitled, ‘Stimulating Skills, Innovation and Economic Growth: what more can we learn from research and practice?’ is being held as part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) National Festival of Social Science week, in conjunction with the Department for Employment and Learning (DELNI) and the Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES).