A DELEGATION of experts from Silicon Valley will travel to Ireland in November for an Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) event.
As many as 25 Irish and Irish-American delegates will meet selected Irish companies at the third annual Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland event, which takes place in Galway and Limerick and will be hosted by University of Limerick, National University of Ireland Galway and Shannon Development.
The guest speaker at this year’s event will be Dr Craig Barrett, the leadership group’s chairman, and a former chairman of Intel.
The leadership group was established in 2007, comprises a number of high-level technology leaders in Silicon Valley who are Irish or Irish-American, and works to help Ireland address the challenges of exploiting new technology opportunities.
The first day of the event, which runs from November 15th to 17th, will see the Silicon Valley experts meet 12 early-stage and scaling companies for a Dragon’s Den-style workshop.
The companies will present pitches with a view to receiving mentoring and feedback. It is possible that they may also receive investment from the venture capitalists who will be present.
The delegation will also include experts from fields such as advanced materials technology, clean energy, and information technology. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe will present an innovation award to the most innovative start-up company idea submitted from an Irish university.
“We are delighted to be hosting the third ITLG event in Limerick and Galway this year,” said the group’s founder, John Hartnett. “We are planning a very exciting and productive week for Irish entrepreneurs.”
In March, the leadership group announced a new Irish innovation centre to support Irish technology companies in Silicon Valley.
