Proceedings of 8th European Assembly on telework (Telework2001)

218The Western Isles, Scotland: ICT and Job CreationNorman L MacDonald,Comchairle nan Eilean Siar Council Offi ces, ScotlandI am delighted to have been invited to give a presentation at Telework 2001 in Helsinki. Two yearsago in Aarhus I spoke about “Telework and its Importance in the Public Sector”. My theme, todayis “The Western Isles ICT and Job Creation”. The Western Isles lie at the very edge <strong>of</strong> Europe,<strong>of</strong>f the north West Coast <strong>of</strong> Scotland. The Islands stretch 180 kilometres from north to south andhave a population <strong>of</strong> 27,000. The islands are one <strong>of</strong> the most sparsely populated areas in the<strong>European</strong> Union and face problems common to other geographically disadvantaged areas suchas high transport costs and a fragile economic base. The capital <strong>of</strong> the islands, Stornoway, hasa population <strong>of</strong> 6,000. Throughout the 20th Century the number <strong>of</strong> those living and working inthe Western Isles has declined dramatically. One reason for this has been a lack <strong>of</strong> employmentopportunities, particularly for the young who all too <strong>of</strong>ten go to a College or University on theMainland and never return. The main industrial sectors are fishing, fish processing, acquacultureand the world famous Harris Tweed. The quality <strong>of</strong> the natural environment in the Western Islesis special and the people have a strong cultural identity directly related to the Gaelic language,indeed some 70% <strong>of</strong> the population are bilingual. As the Chairman <strong>of</strong> the Education Committee, Iam proud to say that the percentage <strong>of</strong> our young people going on to further and higher educationis the highest in Scotland.Having told you a little about the Western Isles I would now like to turn to the second element <strong>of</strong>my presentation, namely, ICT and Job Creation. The Council has long recognised the job creationpotential in an emerging ICT sector. That is why it helped to create the Western Isles ICT AdvisoryService. The Council, Western Isles Enterprise, a separate Government agency, created to developskills and grow businesses and the <strong>European</strong> Regional Development Fund, jointly support theService.Donnie Morrison, whom many <strong>of</strong> you will know, manages the Work Global initiative under thedirection <strong>of</strong> the Advisory Service. He is based at a wonderful location overlooking a sea loch onthe Island <strong>of</strong> Lewis.With the rest <strong>of</strong> his team, he identifies the main aims and objectives as being:1. to create jobs in the Western Isles by matching local skills to the needs <strong>of</strong> clients both nationallyand internationally;2. to identify and target national and international organisations with a potential to out source workto the Western Isles;3. to focus on the Diaspora by establishing a “Friends <strong>of</strong> the Western Isles” database; and4. to assist business start-up ventures in the ICT sector.Work Global is a teleworking facilitator that manages and maintains a Skills Register. The Registerhas been highly successful in providing direct information to inward investors and has proved to bea very valuable marketing tool. It has also allowed Islanders living on the UK Mainland to express