Event Details

Productivity Connections is a series of three workshops which will build network connections between policy, business, and academic stakeholders in addressing aspects of the productivity gap, both nationally and in the Northwest.

The series will be led by the Centre for Productivity & Efficiency (CPE) at Lancaster University Management School, in conjunction with the Work Foundation and the North West Business Leadership Team.

The CPE researches the measurement, analysis, management and improvement of productivity. A core principle of our Centre’s work is that productivity must be understood at multiple levels: individual activities, firms, supply chains, sectors and localities. This is especially relevant in the development of place-specific industrial strategy and in harnessing digital technologies that have the potential to intimately link together firms in business networks and supply chains. The aims of the Productivity Connections series are:

• to build consensus on the agenda for action in key areas of productivity, and
• to connect academics to other stakeholders with a view to developing projects and funding bids for knowledge exchange, collaboration and research activities.

The Industrial Strategy emphasises the importance of place. Regional ecosystems provide an opportunity for specialisation, sharing of expertise and resources, and cultivating innovation. The NW is embarking on an adoption pilot for the ‘Made Smarter’ industrial digitalisation initiative and, more generally, place-based innovation within global value-chains is critical in the face of Brexit.

Format

The format of each event will be similar:

• active participation
• keynote speech; facilitated agenda-setting and project development workshop sessions; plenary with panel
• networking opportunities
• extensive documentation and follow-up