LIZ McAREAVEY
Leadership and collaboration seem overused words - but never have they been more important. We need a sense of clarity and direction for the future. We also need to know how we can work with our neighbours, both British and European to form strong relations and collaborations that benefit all parties. Cohesive societies working together can only strengthen our position as a nation.
Cities are complex beasts; made up of many building blocks with competing needs and demands for support. Health, welfare, education, culture, sport, business, security - all combine to create the communities we are part of. They all interlock in a variety of ways and all compete for resources to exist and flourish. For successful cities to deliver all elements of their responsibilities to the highest possible standards we need a strong economy which creates jobs, value, quality of life, wellbeing and, yes, profit too.
It is a competitive world and often we have to compete domestically as well as globally for investment, trade and talent. We have seen the devolution of powers to cities under the City Deal initiative. We have also seen cities and regions come together to collaborate and maximise the value of the additional powers and budgets in terms of transport, infrastructure, housing and employment.
With rivalry between businesses, organisations and even local authorities becoming increasingly common, there is a perception nowadays that we must always seek to be the best, individually. Whereas, City Deals highlight that in fact – there is power in collaboration, in knowledge transfer and the sharing of best practise.
A number of Scottish cities have received City Deals and will use the funds and powers to ignite their collective economies. Our Capital city, Edinburgh, is still waiting on the announcement of its City Region Deal - a deal with a strong focus on innovation as well as infrastructure and housing.
The University of Edinburgh is one of the top three universities in the world for Big Data and supercomputers – with particular strengths in FinTech. So, how do we maximise the potential of this innovation to attract investment, create new businesses, jobs and value for Scotland? How do we encourage and connect large financial institutions with expertise in regulation to work with agile SMEs who understand the technological advantages of the new digital revolution?
Yes, there are times when we need to protect our own interests but there are also times and opportunities for us to come together to share and create a greater whole.
Liz McAreavey is chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce
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