Glad to be of service…

In the North West we have a thriving knowledge economy where service industries continue today to play a massive part in sustaining our futures. This is not to downplay the importance of other strands of pour economy such as manufacturing, engineering or exporting but it’s a fact that professional services continue to be one of the mainstays of our regional prosperity.

This link to knowledge, especially scientific knowledge, is of particular interest in the North West as we head towards 2016 when Manchester will become the European City of Science. The North West has been in the news quite often in recent months with the go-ahead for the new £235m science research centre at Manchester University to build on successes like the development of Graphene.

But I wanted to concentrate here on what is perhaps a lesser known but vitally important link of worldwide significance. Namely the link the North West has to Alan Turing who of course is only now starting to get the recognition he so richly deserves.

Most people know Turing was a fellow of King’s College Cambridge but how many of us knew he was also Reader in Mathematics at the University of Manchester from 1948 to 1954?

We’re closely linked to the man who helped to bring about a speedier end to the war, developed the mathematical theory that underpins modern computing and significantly advanced our progress in the use of artificial intelligence.

But, as is often the case with such geniuses, there is more to this than meets the eye and many more useful parallels with business than just the simple fact that knowledge and innovation are crucial to our sustained growth.

Turing was probably on the Asperger’s spectrum and no doubt written off by many as an eccentric. In the social atmosphere of the 1950’s there was no room for tolerance and a frightening readiness to ignore even valuable contributions of those who were different. This is summed up nicely by the catchphrase of the film made to commemorate the role of Turing in Bletchley Park: “sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine”

Less commendable is the way he was dealt with but I feel it’s important that that story is also told if we are to learn from our mistakes. We must all play our part if we are to continue to advance as a region– use your intellect if you are gifted, encourage others if that’s your role as a parent or teacher, engage and collaborate if you’re a business to help UK plc maximise the scientific innovation skills we have undoubtedly got in the North West.

There turned out to be more strands to this column than I anticipated but I hope it will add another feather to the balance in favour of a knowledge-based economy where all contributions are genuinely valued.