NExT Generation :

Step Change for the North East Economy (2006)

For the last 30 years, the economy of North East Scotland has been one of the most buoyant in the UK. The primary reason for this has been the major presence of the UK North Sea oil and gas industry in the city of Aberdeen.

The future of the industry, however, is about decline, albeit innovative technology and management is combining to reduce the rate of that decline. The main focus, therefore, for those responsible for planning the economic development of Aberdeen city and shire, has been on securing the future of the region beyond oil and gas.

Having closely researched best practice in economic development strategies since the 1940's and particpated in a number of UK, US and European initiatives since the 1980s, BusinessLab were appointed by the economic forum to design and deploy a process to engage the private sector in developing the next generation of economic step change projects that would inspire and attract support and investment.

Our NExT Generation programme, regarded by the Scottish government as a role model for others to follow, brought together the leadership from over 200 organisations to develop three breakthrough projects. One of these, 'Energetica', is a 30-mile, post carbon energy corridor to attract and secure a global cluster of enterprise and innovation for the north east.

'Energetica' has now been integrated into the structure plan for Aberdeen city and shire.