West Midlands ‘output gap’ has risen to £15bn

The West Midlands’ economy is less productive than the national average, and the gap is growing, according to new research released by the West Midlands Regional Observatory.
In the 2009 ‘State of the Region’ report, the Observatory has revealed that compared to the UK average, the economic output gap of the West Midlands – caused by [...]

Debate on the future of the region is picking up pace

The ‘West Midlands: Fit for the Future?’ debate is picking up pace, with the Observatory today publishing a new chapter. The Forestry Commission’s Bill Heslegrave felt so strongly about the inclusion of green infrastructure in a debate on the economic recovery of the West Midlands, that he submitted a chapter of his own.

Speakers announced for the 2009 conference

One month to go until the Observatory’s 2009 conference - “West Midlands: Fit for the Future?” – on Tuesday 20th October at the Ramada Hotel in Sutton Coldfield.
Book online or fax us a booking form
Entitled “West Midlands: Fit for the Future?”, the conference will follow on from a book of the same name launched by the [...]

Observatory Annual Report 2008-09

The Observatory has published its Annual Report for 2008-09 (PDF, 506kb).
The report summarises our work and achievements over the 2008-09 financial year.
A shorter summary will be produced for the 2009 annual conference, taking place in Sutton Coldfield on 20th October. The conference will explore the economic future of the West Midlands.
For more information, contact Oliver Nicholls.

Tender for women’s enterprise research

The Women’s Enterprise Centre of Expertise has released a tender to conduct women’s enterprise research in the West Midlands.
The deadline for submissions is 21st July 2009.
Research rationale
There is currently a gap in regional women’s enterprise research which takes a strategic view of policy, documentary and research evidence, even though much has been done to promote [...]

Tell us what you think of us…

The Observatory’s annual customer satisfaction survey is now officially underway. If you haven’t already received an invitation by email to take part, then we welcome you to take part in the survey.
The survey closes on Friday 17th July.
You can also sign up to receive our newsletters and invitations in future.

West Midlands: Fit for the Future?

On 21st July, from 5pm to 7pm, the Observatory is holding a short drinks reception in central Birmingham to launch our book, “West Midlands: Fit for the Future?”
The book comprises ten chapters, written by ten different authors, reflecting their personal views on how the region can best place itself in readiness for the economic upturn, as [...]

Sandwell Health’s Other Economic Summit

When: 9th & 10th July 2009
Where: The pUBLIC, West Bromwich
How much: £50
More info: Download flyer (PDF, 95kb)
In the tradition of Sandwell Health’s Other Economic Summit (SHOES), this event will be examining how local issues can impact on world health and how global issues affect us.

Breaking out of the silo – a case study

The West Midlands Regional Observatory is an excellent example of cross-organisation and cross-departmental working, according to a recent case study by the Improvement & Development Agency (I&DeA).
According to the study, the Observatory is a rich resource providing information, knowledge and expertise to a range of audiences.

Making the right choices in a disaster

If there were a nuclear accident in Europe, how would those responsible for disaster response know where to focus attention? And how would they access the right information to make fast and accurate decisions?
Aston University are collaborating with eight other European partners to deliver INTAMAP (Interoperability and Automated Mapping Project), which will provide emergency response decision makers [...]

Call to action on climate change

Due to popular demand, we’re slide-sharing the opening presentation from our State of the Region climate change event held back on 20th April 2009.
Becky Gill, Head of Sustainable Development at Government Office West Midlands, spoke on the region’s Climate Change Action Plan.
The Action Plan’s vision is of a sustainable, low carbon West Midlands that is well-adapted to [...]

Economic contribution of the Third sector

Regional Action West Midlands have just released a piece of research mapping the economic footprint of the voluntary and community sector in the West Midlands (PDF, 773kb).
According to the research:

The West Midlands’ voluntary and community sector brings an income of £3.3 billion into the region, totaling £512 for every person in the region.
Over 51,000 people are [...]

‘Green’ firms fight the recession

The environmental technologies or “green” sector is showing greater resilience to the recession than the manufacturing sector as a whole, according to recent skills research by the West Midlands Regional Observatory.
The environmental technologies sector comprises companies concentrating on renewable energy, pollution monitoring and waste management, amongst others. Although the sector has been adversely affected by [...]

Climate change dialogue underway

We had so much interest in our new State of the Region dialogue on climate change on Monday, that we had to move it to a bigger venue!
The dialogue got off to a great start, and there seemed to be real concensus amongst the forty or so delegates on how to progress some of the issues raised.

Better ways to share information digitally

The Observatory’s Population & Society Group is planning a seminar in the summer to investigate and discuss how research organisations in the West Midlands can get better at sharing information digitally. Do you have any thoughts on this?