New site opens R&D resources to business
Thursday, February 12 2004 - ENN
InterTradeIreland has launched a new Web site which provides businesses with easy access to information on R&D resources throughout the island of Ireland.
InterTradeIreland and the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) have launched the ExpertiseIreland.com portal, which aims to boost cross-border collaborative R&D activity by fostering better links between business and academia. The portal contains information on R&D experts from the island's universities and is designed to be a "one stop shop" for those interested in commercialising research from academic institutions.
Expertiseireland.com provides a searchable database with details of academic expertise, funding sources, as well as technology transfer and collaborative opportunities on the island of Ireland. Information for the portal is provided by the island's universities.
"We currently have seven of the nine universities on the site and will have all nine by Easter," said Aidan Gough, director of strategy and policy at InterTradeIreland, speaking to ElectricNews.Net. "Our main focus is to open it up to businesses and 50 percent of the hits on the site have been from businesses."
The portal is only one of the technology-focused projects sponsored by the body. In October InterTradeIreland announced that it was to provide EUR32 million for an all-island technology transfer project. The Fusion Initiative, was funded to the tune of EUR13.6 million by InterTradeIreland, with the EUR18.5 million to come from participating businesses. The purpose of Fusion is to develop and support three-way partnerships between companies with specific technology needs, research centres with specialist expertise, and science and technology graduates.
"We have a number of initiatives, but the common theme is the transfer of knowledge across the border, creating an all-island knowledge base," said Gough.
InterTradeIreland is also one of the sponsors of the All Island Innovation Awards. The awards are given on an all-island basis to highlight the achievements of innovative companies in the 32 counties. But although resources are provided on an all-island basis, InterTradeIreland is strongly focused on cross-border projects.
"Technology transfer technologies are already supported through Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland, but we specialise in cross-border technology transfer," Gough said.
Ciaran Buckley
