Cab drivers rely a lot on 'The Knowledge', a deep-seated memory of the names and layout of streets which means they can get you and I from A to B in as short a time as possible.

While such geographical nous is a boon for taxi drivers, it is also a handy analogy for a way the local economy is changing - from manufacturing to knowledge-based jobs, especially those in the high-tech sector - and how we can speed up that transformation.

On Thursday the Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP) and Oxford Economics release The Knowledge Economy Index.

It's designed to give us an indication of how we are faring compared to other parts of the UK and how much we have to do to become one of the most knowledge intensive regions.

Those in the know say we're doing well but there's still a long way to go and that means we've a huge amount of potential.

That means Government needs to get behind the push, currently being led by NISP, and help turn Northern Ireland into the next San Diego, a region which has transformed itself from America's bust city to one of the world's most successful knowledge economies.