Cyber security is an ever increasing issue, whether it is for us as individuals, part of a Community group or running a business. Highlands & Islands Enterprise digital team are coming up to both Wick and Thurso on the 27th and putting on a Cyber Sense event which will last an hour, it is fun and free so please take the opportunity to book on an event near you per the links below.
Introduction to the Consultation How to respond In this consultation, the NDA wants to hear from members of the public, nuclear regulators, employees within our businesses, trade unions, local authorities, Site Stakeholder Groups, Non-Governmental Organisations and any other organisation or public body. In your response please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation.
Energy & Business Services: It was good to meet this week with a large company seeking to grow its presence in Caithness, and good to be able to provide some productive links with initiatives that HIE is already supporting and which might help further attract its interest. We are fortunate in having a number of opportunities in the north in the engineering/ energy sectors and I'm particularly keen to help where there are clear opportunities to use innovation as a means of bringing more international trade opportunities to the area.
Two new Scottish wave energy devices will take to the sea in 2020 following the award of £7.7 million from Wave Energy Scotland. Both winning firms - Edinburgh-based Mocean Energy and AWS Ocean Energy from Inverness - will use the funds to build half-scale wave energy machines and test them in real ocean conditions at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
This February, Highlands and Islands entrepreneurs can learn how to create and sustain a competitive advantage at a workshop delivered by a leading expert in the field. Eleanor has more than 25 years' experience in delivering entrepreneurship education across the globe.
An emergency exercise will take place at Dounreay on the morning of Thursday 17 January. The site alert will be sounded to initiate the exercise.
My weekly CNSRP updates are intended to be short and informative, and the same applies to this quick review of 2018 as it relates to the work of CNSRP! Our focus this year has remained on those key opportunities we feel will bring us maximum economic and socio-economic returns. And, amidst wider economic uncertainties, we continue to see good progress.
In this consultation, the NDA wants to hear from members of the public, nuclear regulators, employees within our businesses, trade unions, local authorities, Site Stakeholder Groups, Non-Governmental Organisations and any other organization or public body. In your response please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation.
Weeks commencing 10th & 17th December 2018. UKVL Sutherland: The UKVL team was in Tongue last week to hold another drop-in session to update local residents on progress with the project.
The decommissioning of Dounreay's oldest nuclear reactor has taken a major step forward with the award of a multi-million pound contract. Dounreay Materials Test Reactor (DMTR) was the first operational nuclear reactor in Scotland and achieved criticality in 1958.
Hi-Scot Credit Union has its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 12th December 2018 at 4.00pm. The office of the credit union is based in Stornoway and due to the geography of Highland and Islands has moved more and more online.
Weeks commencing 26th November and 3rd December 2018 UKVL Sutherland: I was delighted to take part in a discussion this week in Thurso with Trudy Morris of Caithness Chamber, the HIE team taking forward the UKVL project and UK/ US representatives from Lockheed Martin. As I have previously highlighted here, Lockheed Martin are one of the two industry partners involved in the project, and their vast experience of launch and satellite technology was clear as we discussed opportunities for the local supply chain as well as exciting opportunities to bring a long-term Lockheed Martin presence into Caithness and North Sutherland.
Efforts in the Highlands and Islands to attract and retain young people may be starting to have a positive effect. This is according to a new report published on Tuesday 4 December 2018.
Week Commencing 26tg November 2018 Energy & Business Services: Following last week's Offshore Wind Week Crown Estate Scotland has just published its report into future licensing rounds for offshore wind leases. http://www.crownestatescotland.com/media-and-notices/news-media-releases-opinion/timescales-and-next-steps-for-new-offshore-wind-leasing-for-scotland at the same time it has been interesting to note that Highland Council's north planning committee this week agreed to raise no objection to the application by Moray West for an offshore windfarm off the Caithness coast.
Weeks Commencing 12th and 19th November 2018 Energy & Business Services: My colleague Keith Muir and I met up last week with the directors of JGC Engineering Services Ltd to catch up on current and future plans, which have been boosted by the news I shared recently that JGC has been awarded a contract by Siemens Transmission and Distribution relating to the Triton Knoll offshore windfarm project of the east coast of England. Siemens is also the turbine provider for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm off the Caithness coast.
Scottish Government Launches ‘people, Not Profit' Campaign To Support The Scottish Credit Unions Sector. The ‘People, Not Profit' credit unions campaign has been launched by Aileen Campbell, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government today (Wednesday 14 November 2018), as results of a new survey reveal that one in five (20%) people in Scotland have not heard of a credit union.
Energy & Business Services: I met up this week with Stephen Sutherland, Chair of Caithness Chamber of Commerce and director at JGC Engineering & Technical Services, at a tourism-related session hosted by the Chamber Board (see below for more). Stephen told me about the fantastic news that JGC has been awarded a contract by Siemens Transmission and Distribution relating to the Triton Knoll offshore windfarm project of the east coast of England.
The Dounreay Socio Economic Plan sets out the main activities to be undertaken by the Dounreay Socio Economic Alliance (DSEA) which consists of Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Cavendish Dounreay Partnership (CDP) and Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL. DSEA's activities are based on support to mitigate the economic impacts of the decommissioning of the Dounreay site.
Highlands and Islands businesses will have the opportunity to develop their brand to help them stand out against the competition at a series of brand development workshops. Organised by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), as part of its Entrepreneurial Academy, the brand development workshops will be delivered by experts in the field and will be free to attend.
Weeks commencing 15th & 22nd October. Energy & Business Services: Cavendish Dounreay Partnership, the Parent Body Organisation at Dounreay, made a significant announcement last week on opportunities for its workforce .(https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dounreay-management-makes-long-term-employment-commitment-to-workforce), which included a commitment to "develop training and support programmes to put individuals in the strongest possible position to move into another local job with one of the growing industries such as space or renewable energy.