Agenda item - Chair's Communications

12.1      The Chair provided the following communications:

“As a follow up from an item we considered at our previous meeting, Professors Cowling and Nightingale from the Universities of Brighton and Sussex have commenced work on the development of the City Region’s Smart Specialisation Strategy.  

This exciting piece of work will inform our growth strategy by both identify sectors in our local economy that are large and specialised enough to provide a comparative advantage for the City Region and by providing an understanding of the problems faced by the firms in these sectors, as well as what can be done to support their growth.  The Professors will report on their findings at our January meeting.

“The Sussex Coast Area Review was completed in April 2016 and we await the report.  This is expected shortly and it is anticipated that a presentation, on the recommendations and next steps, will also be made at our January meeting”.