Innovation CHEF

As rumoured earlier UCD and Trinity College have announced a new research partnership. The Innovation Academy announced this afternoon by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste  has the potential to develop 300 companies and thousands of jobs. The universities say that innovation will now become a third pillar of the sector alongside teaching and research as a potential fourth educational level.

The announcement is more good news for Ireland. There is plenty of opportunity for growth and development and this partnership and pooling of resources may be a key play in regaining some leadership and growth.




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Monday Tuesday morning round up of innovation related stories from Ireland from the past week.

2.  Trinity and UCD step up links
Irish Times, 06 March 2009
In an unprecedented move, UCD and Trinity have been holding secret talks on much closer co- operation on major research projects.

3.  Difficult Times Do Not Deter Irish Entrepreneurs
DETE, 09 March 2009
71 New ‘High Potential Start Up Companies’ pursue Growth Opportunities across Global Markets

4.  Innovation & Standards Supporting Enterprise Seminar announced
NSAI
This half day seminar will focus on the role of standardization in innovation and will feature figures from the world of management, technology and innovation.

5.  Need to accelerate quest for Ireland Inc
techCentral.ie, 09 March 2009
We must turn indigenous Irish firms into global brands. So says John Hartnett, chairman of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG)

Monday morning round up of innovation related stories from Ireland from the past week. If you see anything worth talking about let me know..

1. We need to nurture the innovation economy, says Microsoft Ireland boss

Silicon Republic 26.02.2009

The future of Ireland lies well beyond manufacturing, says Microsoft MD Paul Rellis.

2. Plans for Cork science park to go on public display

People have been invited to comment on and help shape the development of the country’s first science park which has the potential to create up to 6,000 jobs

3. Ready for the Breakthrough

Irish Times, Monday, March 2, 2009

Dr Rory O’Shea has identified a number of strategies of action that can be employed by business schools to help stimulate academic entrepreneurship.

4. The Bottleneck

Irish Times, Monday, March 2, 2009

Good ideas have long abounded in Ireland, but the route from notes on a napkin to products on the market has not always been so straightforward.

5. Intel creates 134 jobs in Shannon as part of €50m expansion

Silicon Republic, 27.02.2009

Global chip giant Intel is to create 134 R&D jobs in a major expansion of its operation facility in the Shannon Free Zone, bringing total employment at the facility to 300 over the next four years.

6. Financial software player sets up R&D facility in Dublin

Silicon Republic, 02.03.2009

A UK-based insurance premium tax (IPT) consultancy has located its R&D office in Dublin to take advantage of the high availability of software development expertise in the city

7. New SFI Research Clusters
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan T.D., announces the establishment of 5 new Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Strategic Research Clusters.

8. Irish Patent Office Announce the Launch of the Junior Inventor Competiton. This competition is aimed at Irish primary school children and encourages young students to be innovative thinkers.

9. Vision of Ireland as the “Innovation Island” is ambitious

Speech at FF conference, 28/02/09

Taoiseach talks smart economy..

10. Seanad Debate on Protection of Intellectual Property

DETE, 25 February 2009

… are fortunate to have in this country a well developed IP Protection system…

Good news for Innovation and research in Ireland as the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan T.D., announces the establishment of 5 new Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Strategic Research Clusters.

The SRC programme is intended to link scientists and engineers in partnerships across academia and industry to address crucial research questions, foster the development of new and existing Irish-based technology companies, and to grow partnerships with industry.

This announcement represents an investment of €23.9million.

The 5 centres are:

1. Clique - A Graph & Network Analysis Cluster
2. Alimentary Glycoscience Research Cluster
3. FAME (Federated, Autonomic Management of End-to-end Communication Services)
4. Irish Separation Science Cluster
5. Precision – Plasma Technology for Nanomanufacturing

The roll call of companies partnering with Irish Academia is again very impressive, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Ericsson, Pfizer, IBM, Idiro Technologies, Norkom Technologies, Agilent Technologies Ireland ltd., Alimentary Health, Biomining Inc., Bristol Myers-Squibb, Cisco Systems, Telefónica I+D, Dionex Corporation, Waters Technology Ireland Ltd, Enbio Materials, Holfeld Plastics, Impedans, Lexas Research, Proxy Biomedical and Straatum.

Great science and the opportunity for real innovation and development of some critical assets for the Irish economy. A lot of hard work goes into these. Congratulations all round.

Of course we’ll be watching!

The Future..

What does the future hold for Ireland?

In an uncertain present who would dare to say they knew what the future held? Ireland played host last week to Bob Johansen from The Institute for the Future. The institute is an independent, nonprofit research group specialising in ten year forecasts by integrating micro and macro trends. Big multinational companies and leading governments use the insights they get from Bob and his colleagues to shape strategy and investments. After all, with a 70% success rate over 40 years; these are the guys with the right pedigree and track record. What did Bob have to say about 2009? What about emerging technology and socio-economic trends and how they will affect Ireland? Was there anyone paying attention?

Bob holds that 2009 will be a “springboard year”, one of great opportunity. While clearly a lot of organisations are just doing everything that they can just to survive there are clear trends that smart companies and entrepreneurs are taking insight from that will pay off within the next 10 years. 2019 will be a much more connected time, your Bebo and Facebook friends will be there in real time helping you shop, keeping you planet friendly and talking you out of the fattening pizza that looks good but your friends know doesn’t fit the diet. It won’t be all busy bodies either, safety data, traffic info and statistics will all be available, local to you through the miracle of geo-positioning and in-vision displays. Start investing in those language lessons too, multi-linguists are going to be powerful people. All that connectivity isn’t going away and your multilingual Twitter feed is going to be part of the instant data river your life is going to swim in. Companies such as HP, Google and Microsoft with their cloud computing initiatives are leading the way on the infrastructure side but there is plenty of room for the small and nimble player to create value once Cyberspace disappears like a shadow and integrates with the everyday life.

Who is taking advantage at the moment? Certainly the big IT players. Governments such as those of Finland and the Korea have made the investments and set in place the strategies that will reap dividends for their economies. In Ireland, we have got some good longer term bets out there. CSETS such as the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN ) or the Bio-Diagnostic Institute (BDI ) are in the game for a cheap integrated sensors everywhere, transparent display world. Their world class science and global partnerships must be convertable though. It is not about stamping your foot for more IP or demanding spinouts – it is about building a truly supportive structure that allows Irish based innovation to take advantage of the trends out there and create value.

A decent broadband structure has to be seen as the playground for our kids to learn the ropes. I got my first taste of programming on a ZX81. I’m not a programmer now but computers have always been part of my life and a tool to be used. If we want to be leaders not just consumers then we must be learners first. The few who heard Bob and his forecast last week and gained some insights would do well and start learning fast.

I have my copy of Get There Early on order. I’ll do a review.