THE business confederations and universities on both sides of the Border should aim for partnerships to develop new technology-based centres of excellence, the keynote speaker at a cross-Border conference organised by the Conference of Rectors in Ireland has said.

Dr Patrick Haren, the chief executive of Northern Ireland Electricity, gave the example of university business links in Massachusetts, which have been the subject of a recent study by the Northern Ireland director of the Confederation of British Industry.

Yesterday's conference in Dublin Castle was jointly organised by the Conference of Rectors in Ireland - which brings together university heads from throughout the island - IBEC and the CBI.