A new initiative aimed at giving Irish technology companies better access to universities has been given the official go-ahead by the Government.
The initiative, which will create an inter-regional network between UCC, UCL and NUI universities, will also create a ‘gateway’ through which companies in Ireland will be able to access technological expertise available in those universities.
Entitled the Technology Transfer Initiative Programme(TTI), it will bring together groups of companies so they can identify any common constraints in their development, while the combined research resources and expertise of the three Universities will be made available to the companies in order to eliminate those constraints.
Speaking at the launch of the programme today, Mr Noel Treacy, Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce, said the programme would specifically target the Atlantic seaboard which, he said, would eliminate the ‘European Paradox’.
"In the past, in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, knowledge and expertise produced in our universities often remained in them, and was not always exploited for commercial purposes, Mr Treacy said.
"It is my belief that programmes like the Technology Transfer Initiative are unique by allowing a two-way transfer both of skills and knowledge between industry and the universities, for the ultimate betterment of both Irish Industry and the Irish national economy."
The initiative will also facilitate regional and inter-regional "technology transfer" and will encourage companies to engage in more R&D and innovation.
It is expected that this will not only improve the competitiveness and the R & D capability of Irish owned companies, but will also drive growth in Regional Enterprises, thereby supporting the Enterprise Ireland objective of increasing sales, exports, and employment of indigenous industry.
Four key industrial sectors will be targeted under the initiative. These four represent the main growth sectors within the Atlantic Seaboard Regions. These sectors are: information and communications Technology (ICT), engineering biomedical-healthcare, and food.
The establishment of inter-regional market-driven technology networks is also being used as a means of identifying industry needs and communicating relevant information to key company employees.
A database of expertise and resources across the 3 Universities that are relevant to industrial needs is also being established a part of the TTI Programme.
