On Feb. 16, the Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness (CGGC) hosted a meeting for the Irish Institute of Boston delegates who were in the country for 10 days on a “Promoting Economic Development in Rural Areas” tour in both Boston and North Carolina. Gary Gereffi, CGGC Director, and Marcy Lowe, senior research analyst, hosted the Irish participants and discussed the center’s expertise in North Carolina in the global economy and recent center research on smart grids.

The Irish decision-makers were eager to see how they could advance their local work in Ireland using several of CGGC’s value chain analyses, touching on rural economy, workforce development and clean tech industries. The 10 participants spent their time in the United States visiting experts from industry, government, non-profit organizations and academia. 

“The Irish delegates were intrigued about how regions in Ireland could similarly envision their own economic roles in the context of global value chains,” said Lowe, who drew on CGGC’s two recent studies on smart grid during the meeting to illustrate how various regions in Ireland might take stock of their emerging industry assets and strategize their advancement.

The cutting-edge research done at Duke University and CGGC made it the perfect stop for the last leg of the group’s visit.

“At Duke we strive to ensure that our research is innovative, timely and relevant,” said Gereffi. “Our priority is to provide decision-makers with high quality information. It is particularly gratifying to see how our global value chains framework can make a real-world impact on the local level.”

A third presenter at the meeting, Peter Skillern, a Durham leader in community economic development, presented innovative practices for financing rural economic development and promoting financial literacy.

The program is sponsored by the Irish Institute at the Center for Irish Programs, Boston College and the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Irish Institute promotes peace and normalization processes on the island of Ireland by bringing decision-makers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to the United States for cultural exchange and sharing of best practices.