2001 Conference - Rotorua

|Index|Introduction|Programme|Workshop Streams|Keynote Speakers|

National Framework

• Growing Businesses
• Global Connections
• Learning and Skills

"Our economic success depends on the people of Scotland, their creativity and enterprise. Too often in the past a lack of self-belief has held us back and economic change has needlessly become social misery. We believe that a strong economy and a strong society can be two sides of the same coin. Enterprise and wealth creation can lie at the heart of reviving communities with the social economy and third sector also playing key roles. But this requires individuals willing to learn and re-learn, for businesses to be smart and government to listen and learn. We can create a dynamic enterprising economy where opportunity is extended to all and no one is left out. Our task is to create the conditions for a smart, successful Scotland."

Foreword to "A Smart Successful Scotland - Ambitions for the Enterprise Networks" Wendy Alexander, MSP, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, June 2001

The Minister's ambitions for the Enterprise Networks are set out in 12 priorities and are the starting point for Scottish Enterprise in its operational planning for 2002/2003. These are:

Growing Businesses

• Greater entrepreneurial dynamism and creativity
• More e-business
• Increased commercialisation of research and innovation
• Global success in key sectors

Global Connections

• Digital connectivity
• Increased involvement in global markets
• Scotland to be a globally attractive location
• More people choosing to live and work in Scotland

Learning and Skills

• Improving the operation of the Scottish labour market
• The best start for all our young people
• Narrowing the gap in unemployment
• Improved demand for high quality in-work training

Arguably, the first of these could be said to be the most important, and there is certainly a recognition that entrepreneurship is for everyone, inside companies as well as for spin outs and start-ups. The independent review of the Business Birth Rate Strategy earlier this year has resulted in a new Network policy on entrepreneurship, with the following priorities:

1. Encouraging innovative high-growth new starts - increasing the number and value of high-growth start-ups, including technology-based start-ups.
2. Encouraging more people to start businesses - providing quality "volume" business support services, mainly through the Small Business Gateway. This includes support for more start-ups by women, the young and individuals from social inclusion groups.
3. Increasing the contribution of education to the development of entrepreneurship - embedding and mainstreaming enterprise in the education system in schools, colleges and universities; enterprise is also to be a key focus in the current Network Review of Skills and Learning. (In order to give our young people the best possible start, it is axiomatic that "the Enterprise Networks must foster a learning and entrepreneurial culture for all Scots from school days on.")

The findings of the Review of the Business Birth Rate Strategy have been incorporated into the new targeting framework and key performance indicators for the Network, in response to the Minister's paper, "A Smart Successful Scotland". A summary is provided below:

There is no doubt that many people in Scotland are interested in starting and running their own business. From 1996-2001 40,000 people visited Personal Enterprise Shows across Scotland, resulting in 8000 start-ups and 14,000 new jobs, which is a respectable conversion rate. The challenge remains, however, to convert that interest into greater entrepreneurial activity.

As always, it is more difficult to measure changes in attitude, a prerequisite in developing an enterprise culture, in which a "positive can do" approach becomes the norm among young people, with the consequent improvement in their employability. The Review recommended that the economic impact of enterprise education should be examined, in terms of the benefits to students and labour markets, and how it contributes over the long-term to increased numbers of start-ups.

|Index|Introduction|Programme|Workshop Streams|Keynote Speakers|