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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY DEPUTY S.Y. MÉZEC OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER 2015
Question
"Since the government decided to make it official policy to expand Jersey's digital industry, could the Minister outline how much public money has been spent pursuing this objective, how many businesses have either started or relocated to Jersey as a result of this promotion and, specifically, how many jobs have been created as a direct result?"
Answer
Since 2012, £3,142,398.95 has been provided by Government to establish and fund Digital Jersey. Digital policy is now at the centre of Government. Technology is unleashing a whole new way of working providing significant business opportunities for Jersey people, Jersey developers and Jersey firms to serve global markets as never before. The Council of Ministers, led by the Assistant Chief Minister, are taking the same approach to promoting and growing this industry as has been proved successful in Financial Services. As a promotional body, the role of Digital Jersey in this context is a combination of:
• Direct business development
• Collaborative efforts with other agencies, primarily Locate Jersey
• Supporting existing businesses, including with licence applications and access to funding
It is impossible to attribute individual pieces of business to a single initiative or efforts from one single Minister; the growth of the Digital sector, and other sectors, is down to the collective efforts of Industry, Government and the Regulators.
Digital Jersey keep track of all business development activities in the sector. Digital Jersey's information shows that during the first quarter of 2015 alone 116 new employees were employed in the sector (41 of which were employed in existing businesses). There is also a current pipeline of 248 jobs which are expected to be created in the next 12 months. Further detailed information is available at Digital Jersey's website (digital.je)