With up to €300,000 on offer, phase two of the Innova programme offers companies the funding and expertise to get a new idea off the ground
INTERTRADEIRELAND (ITI) has launched the second phase of its highly successful Innova all-island collaborative R&D programme. The second phase offers €11 million in funding support for up to 17 North-South collaborative research and development partnership projects.
InterTradeIreland is seeking expressions of interest by October 24th, and will then begin the process of identifying the projects which will receive this funding.
Innova's pilot phase funded eight cross-border projects from companies such as Alltech, Dunbia, Biotrin, Randox, Aepona and Rococo. Among the projects supported were a new diagnostic test for pancreatitis, a call centre telecommunications management system and a revolutionary hygiene management system that can reduce the spread of MRSA and C Difficile.
Phase two of the programme aims to facilitate the establishment of 15 North-South partnership projects, with each partner company eligible to receive up to €300,000. In addition, two flagship projects will be selected with participating companies eligible for up to €500,000 each.
New projects will be considered primarily in life and health sciences; polymer and plastics; information and communications technology; and food sectors.
"Cutting edge R&D is essential to the future development of a successful all-island economy," says Liam Nellis, chairman of InterTradeIreland.
"Besides funding support, Innova offers an opportunity to accelerate new product development with a company in the other jurisdiction, while working within a controlled and protected environment. It allows the sharing of otherwise inaccessible knowledge, access to complementary technical expertise and assistance in the search for a suitable technology partner and managed introductory meetings."
Pointing to the success of the first phase of the programme, Nellis says that not everyone thought it would work.
"Initially people thought that we wouldn't get enough interested parties in it, that companies would not share their research and development which they regard as their crown jewels," he says.
"They may be willing to share this with universities who are not competitors, but they would not be willing to do it with other commercial concerns," he explains.
"But the accepted truth was not the fact," he adds. "We found that companies are willing to collaborate. Phase one was the proof of concept for Innova. Now we are moving on to phase two, which will involve 17 projects."
Some lessons were also learned during the first phase. "We carried out a detailed appraisal of the first phase and we have made some changes to phase two as a result," he says.
These changes include an increase in funding to a maximum of €300,000 per company from €200,000, the inclusion of the two flagship projects, and alterations to the application process.
"We felt that some projects might be constrained by the overall funding limit, so we have increased it substantially. Also, we have allowed for two flagship projects which might require higher levels of funding but we will only be providing this funding if we find the right projects," says Nellis.
The application process has also changed.
"The main difference here is that we are now just looking for expressions of interest by October 24th," Nellis explains.
"We are not calling for actual detailed proposals at the moment. This can be quite a costly process for a company and can be a deterrent to applying, particularly with no guarantee of success.
"By looking for expressions of interest we will establish the level of interest in the programme among companies willing to collaborate with one another on research and development projects.
"Once we get those expressions of interest we will work with the applicants and move on to seeking formal proposals," says Nellis.
A condition of the funding is that the R&D projects have to be cross-border in nature, with the partners being drawn from both parts of the island of Ireland.
However, it is not necessary for a potential participant to have identified a partner at this early stage. Those companies who have an idea for a project and express an interest in the programme, but do not yet have a partner, will be assisted in finding one by ITI.
Nellis is confident that the second phase will be fully subscribed.
"If it happens that we only get 10 suitable projects then so be it, it would still be worthwhile. Innova is quite a high-cost programme, but even if just one or two of the projects are commercially successful this would pay for the whole thing many times over," he says.
"I am very confident that phase two will be very successful. We already know that 15 companies have signified their intent to submit expressions of interest, so we are well on the way to filling the programme," says Nellis.
Companies interested in Innova phase two should log on to www.intertradeireland.com/innova before October 24th
