BELFAST BRIEFING:IF THERE is one thing that Northern Ireland really excels at, it is producing endless reports on the economy. There is a never-ending stream of government-commissioned, independent think tank or industry body reports. It appears to be the only industry enjoying year-on-year growth right now, writes FRANCESS McDONNELL

Fresh on the heels of the Barnett report, the godfather of reports on what Northern Ireland needs to do to transform its economic outlook comes later this month with the Matrix Report.

Essentially, it is the Northern Executive’s response to proposals from a group known locally as the Northern Ireland Science Industry Panel, or Matrix, as it calls itself. The reason the Matrix report is different is because it could actually make a difference.

Last year, Matrix produced an eight-volume report on how the North could be sitting at the end of a rainbow worth millions of pounds if it could commercialise more RD projects and science and technology.

Lurking behind the tedium of the first 44 pages in volume one was a flash of brilliance. Just as the hero in the Hollywood movie of the same name realised there was life outside his simulated reality, the Northern Ireland Science Industry Panel had an awakening. It saw a vision of a region with a vibrant economy profiting directly from science.

The Matrix believes Northern Ireland should harness the talent in its science and RD fields and exploit it commercially, and identified “four top level imperatives” which had to be addressed to achieve future economic success.

These were to develop a more innovative culture of collaboration; to abandon the North’s “old economy thinking” and embrace the competitive global market approach, to examine its skills base, and to see how it could develop with Britain and the Republic, the EU and globally, especially with regards to its research base and science and intellectual property driven businesses.

Matrix chairman Prof Damien McDonnell, a distinguished scientist, says the first challenge is to “effect a permanent cultural change” in the North. Belfast-born McDonnell argued in the report that the responsibility for building a science-led economy in the North did not lie with government or academia, but with business.

McDonnell is the former chief executive of the UK’s Defence Diversification Agency, part of the Ministry of Defence. His work with the UK’s Defence Evaluation and Research Agency helped secure new patents and revenue of £120 million (€133 million) for the UK government. If he believes there is a multimillion-pound industry with potential to generate hi-tech, well-paid jobs waiting in the wings in Northern Ireland, chances are he’s right.

The question is, why is nobody in government or in business jumping all over this opportunity?

If the North has a golden goose within reach which could transform the local economy, why has it taken almost a year for Economy Minister Arlene Foster to respond on behalf of the Executive to the Matrix report?

Particularly when McDonnell claims: “Northern Ireland is brimming with ideas, talent and skills. What we now need is the muscle of business and academia to take these recommendations forward, and the foresight of government to facilitate them.”

Foster claims implementation of the Matrix report is already under way. She says there has been a cross-departmental response to its recommendations which will position “Industry-led Innovation Communities” at the heart of future economic planning. This represents “an important shift in our economic thinking”, she says.

Foster says the Executive has initiated four key actions in response to the Matrix report. These range from setting up a Government Innovation Gateway to creating a “first stop shop to government support” service. She says there will be an expanded role for further education institutions when it comes to working with industry.

It sounds like a rather muted response to being told you potentially have the equivalent of the winning lottery numbers close to hand when it comes to building a new economic future.

The Matrix report offers genuine hope for the economy. Perhaps the Executive does not realise it has this winning lottery ticket in its hand. What it needs to do is cash in that ticket and borrow a line of thought from the hero in Holywood’s Matrix.

He might not have been referring to Northern Ireland when he said it is “a world where anything is possible” – but we have Damien McDonnell in our corner.