A new research plan is set to shape the future strategic priorities and policies of Northern Ireland’s Department for Employment and Learning, according to DEL Minister Dr Stephen Farry.
The Department’s research agenda 2012-15, Underpinning Success, sets out the research needs to support policy development and delivery in areas of particular importance to DEL, including the skills, innovation, employability and the promotion of good working practices.
The Minister said: “The work of my Department will play a critical role in realising both the Executive’s economic vision and its desire to tackle disadvantage.
It is accepted that it will be the skills, employability and creativity of people and employers that will drive the economy and society forward.
“Therefore, to drive the achievement of my Department’s work in these areas, it is critical that we have access to a robust research evidence base to underpin all policy design and delivery.
”This latest research agenda covers the three year period to 2015 and will build upon the work that has flowed from the Department’s previous agendas – 29 research projects have been identified from these.
Commenting on the research projects, Dr Farry said: “My Department has undertaken a thorough review of its research needs for the period up to 2015. We will now begin the process of prioritising these projects.
“A number will be initiated shortly including, research into the area of labour mobility within Northern Ireland, investigating the role of skills in narrowing the productivity gap with the UK and other leading countries, and developing a tracking survey for those who leave Further Education.
“I welcome the cross-cutting emphasis within the research agenda on the desire to have increasingly robust national and international benchmarking across all DEL programmes. As such we will be benchmarking our performance with comparators both within and outside the region on a number of research projects.
”The research agenda will be underpinned by a detailed implementation plan which will be published in the autumn of 2012.