Northern Ireland Apprenticeship Week- Call for Company Events
Manufacturing NI sits on the regional planning committee for Apprenticeship Week which will be held on 6th-10th February 2023. We would like to encourage manufacturers to hosts events or activities to coincide with this week. Some examples include;
* Social media activity highlighting the role of apprenticeships in the organisation w/ role models
* Student competitions
* Job sampling / apprenticeship talks / job fairs
* School site visits / open days
* Meet the parents Q&A

Click here for the 2023 proforma (https://www.manufacturingni.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Blank-Proforma-NIAW-2023-inc.-feedback.docx?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID) . Detailed within this form you will see that it will need you to return it to The Department of Economy by COB on Friday 2nd December 2022 at the latest. Your public facing event details will then be listed on NIDirect in preparation for the Department’s Press Release which will launch the NIAW.

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Search begins for new board members for the Labour Relations Agency
The Department for the Economy (DfE) has launched a public appointment competition to recruit four new board members to the board of the Labour Relations Agency (LRA).

The LRA is a non-departmental public body with responsibility for promoting the improvement of employment relations in Northern Ireland. The LRA contributes to organisational effectiveness by providing impartial and independent services for promoting good employment practices and preventing and resolving disputes.

The Department wishes to appeal to people of all ages from a wide range of backgrounds and experience across the community, voluntary, business or public sector, who can bring a wide range of skills and experience to the role. DfE would particularly welcome applications from females, people with a disability, those from minority ethnic communities and young people, as they are currently under-represented on the board. The Department is operating a Guaranteed Interview Scheme in this competition for applicants with a disability.

This competition will be of particular interest to people who wish to develop their skills as part of a board and are willing to learn. Previous experience of serving on a board is not necessary as new appointees will undergo an induction programme, as well as being offered peer support.

The rate of remuneration for the LRA board members is £5,643 per annum, for which they will be required to attend the monthly board meeting and undertake other occasional duties on behalf of the LRA. The board members can claim reasonable travel and subsistence costs while undertaking board duties.For further information or to receive an application pack visit: https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/lra-members?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

This is an open competition which involves a simple application form and interview. The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon (GMT) on 24 November 2022

https://www.manufacturingni.org/invest-ni-launch-ambition-to-grow-programme/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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Ambition to Grow
Ambition to Grow is Invest NI's exciting new regionally focused competition aimed at innovative, ambitious businesses is now open for applications.

40 spaces are available and successful applicants will be eligible to apply for funding up to a maximum of £45,000, broken down as follows:
* £5,000 per new job (a minimum of three) created over and above existing employment levels within the business (to a maximum of £30,000).
* £10,000 towards business development activities, where the amount of support provided shall be no more than 50% of the cost eligible activities listed in the application.
* £5,000 on the completion of an export health check and development of an export plan, to the satisfaction of Invest NI.

This initiative has been designed with businesses which are not currently Invest NI client managed customers in mind, and it is anticipated to be extremely beneficial to businesses throughout Northern Ireland.

For more information on the competition please visit the Ambition to Grow webpage (https://www.investni.com/support-for-business/ambition-to-grow?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID) .

Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Friday 25 November 2022.

https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeawards2023?mc_cid=256636b6f3&mc_eid=UNIQID&mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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NI Apprenticeship Awards 2023 Launched
Nominations are now being sought for the prestigious NIAA2023.
The NIAA2023 will recognise and showcase excellence and best practice in the participation and delivery of Apprenticeships. Finalists will be selected and invited to a special awards ceremony on Wednesday 29th March 2023.
These awards honour:
* Valued Apprentices who are making a significant contribution to their workplace and have shown a dedication to excel in their professional development and learning;
* Influential partnerships between Employers and Training Providers that support the continuous growth of skills development in Northern Ireland; and,
* For the first year, Mentors who provide an outstanding contribution to the Apprenticeship programmes.

Applications are now open for five award categories:
* Apprentice Award (Levels 2-3);
* Higher Level Apprentice Award (Level 4+);
* Large Employer in partnership with a Training Provider Award (employers with more than 250 employees);
* Small to Medium-sized Enterprise in partnership with a Training Provider Award (employers with less than 250 employees); and,
* Outstanding Mentor Award.

All nominees for the Apprentice and Higher Level Apprentice Awards must have been on the ApprenticeshipsNI or Higher Level Apprenticeship Programme in 2022.
Completed nomination forms must be returned before 12:00 noon on Friday 18th November 2022 to: niaa.2023@economy-ni.gov.uk (mailto:niaa.2023@economy-ni.gov.uk)
Full details on application criteria for each of the awards, and how to apply, are available on the Department’s website at:
https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeshipawards2023?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

(https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/apprenticeshipawards2023?mc_cid=256636b6f3&mc_eid=UNIQID&mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID)

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonderrychamberofcommerce/786714/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID

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2022 North West Annual Future of Energy Conference
Thursday 17th November
Everglades Hotel, Derry

This full day conference is jointly hosted by the Chambers of Commerce in Londonderry and Letterkenny, kindly supported by the North West Regional Development Group, and will focus on the opportunities for investment, growth, innovation and job creation and also address the challenges to businesses of rising energy costs.

This event aims to
* Encourage cross border collaboration in the energy sector to the benefit of the whole North West city region
* Provide a platform for knowledge transfer and sharing to support economic growth of the North West region
* Support business growth and innovation in the energy sector
* Support NW businesses to meet sustainability goals in the move to net zero

BUY TICKETS HERE
(https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonderrychamberofcommerce/786714/?mc_cid=7b80d524b5&mc_eid=UNIQID)Direct

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Ireland's first Space Strategy for Enterprise blasts off       printable version

19 Feb 2018: posted by the editor - Science, Technology, Europe, Ireland

Ireland's first national Space Strategy for Enterprise by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovationaims aims to set out how Ireland can maximise the benefit of its investment in the European Space Agency (ESA) and in the European Union's (EU) flagship space programmes, Copernicus, Galileo and Horizon 2020. Created under the umbrella of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation the strategy was launched by Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan today, the same day that Blanchardstown technology company InnaLabs also announced its biggest contract to date with ESA. A steering group will be established in the coming weeks to oversee the development of the Space Strategy. This will include a consultation process to seek views from interested parties on how Ireland can best exploit opportunities in the space enterprise sector. Making the announcement, Minister Halligan said "The space sector is undergoing a significant and rapid transformation. It's evolving from a sector where activities are funded purely by governments to one that relies more on private investments to fund commercial activities. More than sixty Irish companies are currently benefiting from contracts with ESA, with five new companies expected to enter the sector each year between now and 2020. Employment in Irish companies which benefit from ESA contracts is expected to double from 2,000 in 2014 to over 4,500 in 2020. By developing this Strategy, the Department will ensure that companies already working in this sector can expand, and that opportunities for new entrants are identified. The Strategy will also seek to identify and explore potential synergies with other sectors, such as ICT and Aerospace." One of the Irish companies working in the space sector, InnaLabs, today announced a €2.6m contract with ESA. The objective of the contract is to design, develop, manufacture and test a highly reliable radiation-hardened 3-axis gyroscope, a spinning device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. While the initial opportunity is for science mission applications, the technology will serve a large spectrum of commercial space activities including Earth observation, communications and navigation satellites.  InnaLabs' gyroscope cutting edge technology is also applied in a wide range of terrestrial applications such as air transportation, autonomous vehicles, marine, civil engineering projects, rail transportation systems and the oil and gas industries.  This contract follows the successful completion of another ESA €980k contract announced by InnaLabs during an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to ESA's  main technology development and test facility, ESTEC, in The Netherlands in 2017. Welcoming the news Minister Halligan said: "Today's announcement is yet another example of the growing number of Irish companies benefitting from Ireland's membership of ESA. Through our continued investment in the European Space Agency and with the support of my Department and Enterprise Ireland, Ireland's space sector will continue to go from strength to strength." Speaking about InnaLabs' success, CEO of InnaLabs John O'Leary said: "We are delighted to announce this contract with ESA which will validate our products internationally and gives us the opportunity to offer our CVG technology to the space market segment. We are also pleased to learn that a national Space Strategy for Enterprise is under development. We believe this will be an invaluable resource for Ireland to continue to succeed in the space sector, but also to facilitate Irish companies to expand into related commercial markets following ESA validation." Welcoming the announcement, Gearóid Mooney, Divisional Manager of Enterprise Ireland's Research and Innovation Business Unit, said: "The InnaLabs contract is further evidence of the growing capabilities of Irish firms to develop high performance and high reliability technologies for the global space market, with the support of the European Space Agency." The steering group for the Space Strategy for Enterprise will set out details about the process for producing the strategy when it meets in the coming weeks. This will include details about the public consultation that it will organise and which will be accessible on the websites of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland. The European Space Agency (ESA) is an international organisation, comprised of 22 Member States. ESA works to coordinate the financial and intellectual resources of its Member States in order to undertake programmes and activities beyond the capabilities of any single European country. ESA's mission is to shape the development of Europe's Space capability and ensure that investment in Space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Investment into ESA works on the basis or geographical return. Essentially, the amount Ireland invests in ESA Irish companies will receive back in contracts. Ireland joined ESA in 1975. For more information on the ESA, visit: www.esa.int The Copernicus programme is the European Union's earth observation programme, coordinated by the European Commission. The development of the observation infrastructure is performed under the aegis of the European Space Agency for the Space component and of the European Environment Agency and the Member States for the in-situ component. Copernicus has been specifically designed to meet user requirements. Through satellite and in situ observations, the services deliver near-real-time data on a global level which can also be used for local and regional needs, to help better understand the planet and sustainably manage the environment. Ireland recently signed an agreement with ESA, providing access to near-real time earth observation data. For more information on Copernicus, visit: www.copernicus.eu The Galileo Programme is also coordinated and managed by the European Commission. It is the European Union's Global Satellite Navigation System. Galileo provides accurate positioning and timing information. It is a programme under civilian control and its data can be used for a broad range of applications. Currently, data is derived from a constellation of 18 satellites. For more information on Galileo, visit: www.gsa.europa.eu Horizon 2020 Horizon 2020 (H2020) is the European Union's Framework for Research and Innovation, offering nearly €80 billion in funding between 2014 and 2020. H2020 acts as the financial instrument to implement the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative. By implementing the Innovation Union, H2020 aims to secure Europe's global competitiveness by fostering more breakthroughs and discoveries, in addition to achieving excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. Within H2020 there is a dedicated space programme as part of the Industrial Leadership pillar.  For more information on Horizon 2020, visit: www.ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020 Tags: Space Strategy for Enterprise, European Space Agency, Copernicus, Galileo, Horizon 2020

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