The Isle of Man’s space industry was singled out for praise in a major report presented at the Institute of Directors (IoD) in London on Friday 18 May. The report entitled ‘Space: Britain’s New Infrastructure Frontier’ was presented to a sell out audience of over 100 key players from the British space industry.
The report, which is authored by Dan Lewis, Chief Executive of the Economic Policy Centre, Chief Executive of Future Energy Strategies and Energy Policy Adviser to the IoD, contains a full section on the Isle of Man space industry entitled ‘The Isle of Man’s Mighty Space Sector’. It highlights the Island’s ability to innovate, embracing new and growing industries – ‘Like many micro nations, the Isle Of Man has a history of quickly adapting to fast emerging industries – from fishing to banking to financial supervision to the film industry to e-gaming and e-commerce and now space’. It puts much of the Island’s success down to ‘achieving a cluster effect of major companies’.
The report also highlighted the Island's home grown 'space champion', ManSat, and its role in orbital filing with Ofcom, in addition to the presence of the Space Data Association (SDA) on the Isle of Man who, just the week prior, had held a successful workshop with the International Institute of Space Commerce (IISC) with participants from the US and Europe.
Attending the event from the Island were Tim Craine, Director of Business Development at the Department of Economic Development, in his capacity as a trustee of the International Institute of Space Commerce (IISC) and also John Sheath, Chartered Director and Fellow of the IoD, the IISC company secretary. Following the presentation, the Isle of Man delegates attracted significant media interest on the back of the comments in the report. There was also significant commercial interest from those in the audience.
Tim Craine said:
'It is highly significant that the Island received the recognition and praise for its space sector from a prestigious body such as the IoD and is further evidence of the strength of the sector and significant interest that the Island’s space industry attracts.'
Alex Downie OBE, MLC, Member of the Department of Economic Development with responsibility for Space, who is also a trustee of the IISC said:
'The IoD event was an ideal opportunity for the Island to demonstrate that its space industry is complimentary to, rather than in direct competition with, the UK’s space industry. This partnership is important to emphasise how the Island adds value to the UK economy as well as providing benefit to our own economy.'
For more information about the Isle of Man's space sector visit www.whereyoucan.im.
