MANY of you will already have heard about Science City York and know what it is, but many others will have, at best, only a sketchy notion of what this important project is all about.

So what is it and why is it so important to York?

Well, in common with many other UK cities over recent years, York has seen job losses in traditional industries which, for us, include engineering, railways and confectionery production.

This leads to the need to look for alternative sources of employment and economic growth that will be sustainable into the future. It was partly from this need that Science City York was born.

But need alone does not solve problems and York has been fortunate in at least two crucial respects: firstly, it has an outstanding research-led university that provides the all-important science and technology base underlying the development of related businesses; secondly, it has an exceptional group of individuals, institutions and businesses who have worked closely together in a way that is absolutely essential for the comprehensive development of a major initiative such as Science City York.

Recognising the potential to create jobs and stimulate economic growth, collaboration between the City of York Council and the University of York created Science City York, which was formally launched by Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science, in 1997.

Since that time, its major funding has come from the City of York Council, the European Community and, more recently, from the Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward. The administrative functions for the project are provided under the auspices of the City of York Council, led by Tony Bennett, the assistant director for economic development, and the executive activities have been managed by Anna Rooke since the start of the initiative.

Of course, the organisation and activities of Science City York have changed and developed in the light of experience over the years and it is now organised with three key cluster groups: bioscience and healthcare; IT & digital industries; and creative industries.

It is perhaps important to comment that while Science City York is the major brand under which this project proceeds, the actual nature of modern business means that there is blurring of inputs, and "knowledge-based" is a useful additional way of thinking about at least some of the businesses within this community. The Science City York team now provides a wide range of essential business support services to young companies within the sector, often helping them to survive and flourish when they might otherwise have failed or at least have found the going much tougher.

So far, so good. This all sounds fine and dandy, but is Science City York actually doing anything useful for the people of York? The answer must be a firm yes.

From an almost insignificant employment sector only a decade ago, Science City York now accounts for around 240 businesses with 7,500 employees working in science industries within the York community. About 4,000 of these work in bioscience and healthcare; 2,500 in IT & digital industries; and 1,000 in the creative industries.

Overall, including the research activities in York's larger education institutions, the sectors employ more than 9,000 people. Importantly, for each science-based job, there's another job created within the supporting infrastructure and, beyond that, further jobs within the local community.

So Science City York has been a very good provider of high-quality, sustainable jobs for a wide range of employees and looks set to continue to do this. Surveys undertaken on behalf of Science City York suggest the creation of another 15,000 or so jobs in this sector over the next 16 years.

During the past year the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced the creation of six national Science Cities, of which York is one. Indeed, York has created a model for this sort of development that is the envy of many other cities in the UK. This means that the prospects exist for the future development of Science City York to be accelerated to a new level within the national network, so providing York with unprecedented opportunities for job creation and economic development while maintaining our outstanding environment and quality of life.

Updated: 10:56 Wednesday, June 22, 2005