Opportunities in North Yorkshire for Service Providers

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was set up in 1975 to stimulate economic development in less prosperous regions of the European Union (EU).

As EU membership has grown, ERDF has developed into a major instrument for helping to redress regional imbalances. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) manages ERDF in England.

England has nine regions designated as Objective 1 or Objective 2, and has £3.4 billion to help projects which improve these regions www.erdf.communities.gov.uk/.

Yorkshire Forward is the Regional Development Agency behind the economic regeneration of the Yorkshire and Humber region. The agency was set up by Government to promote sustainable economic development throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region. One of England's nine Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) they are a business led organisation that aims to help improve the region’s relative economic performance and reduce social and economic disparities.

With over 5 million people and 270,000 businesses contributing to an economy now worth over £72 billion, this region ranks alongside countries including Ireland, Norway and Singapore. www.yorkshire-forward.com

A successful North Yorkshire economy is an important objective for the County Council. A top priority is the promotion of a successful North Yorkshire economy and infrastructure so that businesses of all sizes can flourish to provide job opportunities for everyone. The Council offers a range of services and support to business - from delivery of European grants and funding schemes to giving advice and assistance on Trading Standards laws. North Yorkshire County Council's (NYCC) Economic Development Unit (EDU) is working closely with Business Link York and North Yorkshire (BLYNY) to give assistance and advice on most aspects of business to Small Medium Enterprises (SME) located throughout North Yorkshire, enabling them to improve their growth prospects. www.northyorks.gov.uk

NYnet has appointed BT Global Services as preferred supplier in the procurement of a Next Generation Broadband Network (NGN) for the largest county in the UK.

Working in partnership, BT Global Services will assist NYnet in providing next generation digital services throughout the sub-region. A very high speed fibre-optic network will link a number of ‘Points of Presence’ across North Yorkshire, allowing Service Providers to offer affordable access to a wide range of internet-based data, image and voice services. This network will provide rapid deployment of better public services and improved access for service providers. www.bt.com/globalservices

Cisco networking technology is at the heart of the NYnet next generation telecommunications platform. BT Global Services worked in concert with Cisco designers to build an optically switched North Yorkshire-wide network, which offers state-of-the-art levels of capacity and scalability. Cisco’s product portfolio is however not limited to simple connectivity. They also offer infrastructure that supports high value, mission critical applications such as unified messaging, storage area networks and data centre management. Cisco are working alongside BT Global Services and NYnet to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of these capabilities within the public sector in North Yorkshire. http://www.cisco.com