Niagara needs to develop a \u201cknowledge\u201d economy that would build on the region\u2019s strengths, says a new policy brief from the Niagara Community Observatory.<\/p>\n
In it\u2019s brief, titled \u201cMoving Niagara Towards a Knowledge Economy,\u201d the Brock University research group says that while Niagara has strengths in agriculture, tourism and as a border community, manufacturing enterprises have been the traditional source of jobs in the area.<\/p>\n
With the decline of the manufacturing sector, large and small communities in Canada are now positioning themselves to function as \u201cvibrant economic hubs.\u201d Core to these hubs is a knowledge economy, which \u201cplaces a premium on creativity and creation of new knowledge and innovation as drivers of economic revitalization,\u201d says the brief.<\/p>\n
Included within innovation would be new inventions in fields such as genetics or biotechnology, reconfiguration of existing goods produced or revolutionizing the way that these goods are produced, including advanced manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis environment leads to new products and stimulates new economic activity around the manufacturing of these goods,\u201d says the brief, co-authored by Charles Conteh, associate professor of political science at Brock University and Wendy Dueck, development officer at Niagara College.<\/p>\n
The brief outlines ways in which smaller cities and regions such as Niagara, that have been hit with the manufacturing downturn, can transform their economies into innovative economies.<\/p>\n
Needed for this transformation are: a critical mass of skilled people; post-secondary research institutions; innovation centres; commercial and cultural facilities; good infrastructure and civic leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cNiagara is in a strong position to leverage its current assets in an army of freshly trained post-secondary graduates, state-of-the-art research facilities, a strategic position as a border region located between Toronto and Buffalo, connected together by a robust network of transportation infrastructure; and an emergent culture of entrepreneurship and knowledge commercialization,\u201d says Conteh.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, actually mobilizing these assets as pieces of a holistic puzzle is the next step \u2013 and this requires strategic leadership and collaborative governance,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
As a companion to the brief, the Niagara Community Observatory partnered with the Niagara Workforce Planning Board to release a second paper, titled \u201cNiagara\u2019s Changing Economic Structure,\u201d which contains statistics documenting trends in the region\u2019s economy over the past five years.<\/p>\n
Highlights include:<\/strong><\/p>\n Both briefs will be distributed at this Friday\u2019s Niagara Economic Summit, but can be viewed below:<\/p>\n NCO Brief: Moving Niagara Towards a Knowledge Economy<\/a><\/p>\n\n