AQW 24924/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 01/11/2021
Answered On Date: 12/11/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail the steps being taken to improve and increase automation in industry as a way of addressing skills and labour shortages.

Answer:

The Vision for a 10x Economy published in May this year outlines the priority areas in which Northern Ireland is, or can be, world class. As part of the work to develop the Vision, we will be exploring how technologies, such as Robotics and Artificial Intelligence which form automation, can be harnessed to provide economic opportunities. Policies and interventions that will enable us to meet our ambition of creating a 10x Economy will be outlined in a Delivery Plan which is anticipated to be published in 2022.

City Deals investment of £1.5 billion over the next 15 years will play a key role in the delivery of a 10x Economy and support the Economic Recovery Action Plan. This investment will help enable collaboration between academia and industry as they seek new and innovative ways to enhance automation within our economy. The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre and the Global Innovation Institute in Belfast, along with the Centre for Industrial Technologies and the Automation and Cognitive Analytics Research Laboratory in Londonderry, as well as developing proposals within the Mid South West Region, will be pivotal to success in this area.

My Department recently consulted on a new Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland, Skills for a 10x Economy, which sets out the strategic importance of improving the skills profile of our population in accordance with anticipated labour market demand. The Strategy acknowledges how technology, including automation, is driving rapid change within our economy and labour market and it seeks to support this transition via the themes of ‘Creating a culture of lifelong learning’ and ‘Enhancing Digital Skills, Developing Our Digital Spine’.

Invest NI’s Productive Investment Capital Grant supports businesses to invest in technologies, including automation, in response to impacts such as skills and labour shortages. The Process and Organisational Improvement Grant supports businesses to develop and implement process and organisation improvements focussed on Industry 4.0 themes including digitalisation, automation and sensor technologies.

The agency also provides Industry 4.0 assessments to help businesses to progress digital manufacturing adoption. It has provided support towards four industry networks via the Collaborative Growth Programme, engaging over 100 companies, all with a clear focus and related action plan to address existing and future skills and digital manufacturing.

Invest NI proactively engages with businesses to generate awareness and adoption of digital manufacturing technologies, including automation, to uplift productivity, with a focus on job redesign/upskilling to support this transformation. This includes organising a series of STEP (Smart Technology Empowering People) webinars on adopting digital technology, run in partnership with Makers Alliance.