Wednesday, 4th June 2008

Enterprise Ireland Forum to Showcase Commercial Opportunities from Research

Enterprise Ireland funding produces 18 new companies in 2 years

A major Forum to assist Third Level researchers in Ireland develop commercial possibilities from their work will be hosted by Enterprise Ireland in Dublin on June 18th next. The Forum will give researchers the opportunity to voice their opinion on the Irish research commercialisation system and what can be done to make it more effective.

This first Enterprise Ireland Applied Research Forum, entitled "From the Bench to the Boardroom - Commercialising Irish Research" will be held in the Guinness Storehouse.

It will also feature presentations by three researchers on how they brought their research to the marketplace, and a special "One to Watch" Award will be presented by Án Tánaiste Mary Coughlan T.D. to the new researcher whose commercialisation efforts are deemed to have the most business potential.

Waterford Institute of Technology's Barry Downes, a researcher who has successfully commercialised his research and a speaker at the event, has developed a software application which makes information syndication, and the usage of the massive amount of information available online, accessible by all types of computer users.

Mr Downes says: "The world of information syndication has grown massively, and even though there are already over 9 million blogs, with over 40,000 new blogs per day, and a massive amount of other information being syndicated via feeds (e.g. news, stock prices, jobs, marketing information, etc.), no one seems to be making it any easier for the information to be used, found and merged".

"With the funding and support from Enterprise Ireland we were able to turn our research discovery into a spin-out company www.feedhenry.com".
Feargal O Morain, Enterprise Ireland Executive Director, said that "Enterprise Ireland is committed to bringing research outputs to the marketplace and to do everything possible to support researchers engaging in the process".

"Enterprise Irelands strategy is concerned with transforming Irish industry though innovation and making Irish companies competitive in global markets. To do this we work with our partners in the researcher system to spin off as much technology as possible. More innovative companies mean more opportunities for our young graduates and higher growth and prosperity for the economy as a whole."

Enterprise Ireland has invested €275 million in the Third Level research and innovation system since 2000. During the 3 year period 2005 - 2007, the Third Level sector has produced 95 licences, 26 start-up companies and hundreds of patents and invention disclosures. 18 of the start-up companies were a direct result of Enterprise Ireland funding applied research.  Last year alone saw 136 patents filed and 264 invention disclosures.

"The Forum will allow us to demonstrate the very high quality of the work being done by researchers around the country, and the real commercial possibilities that exist for researchers", said Mr O'Morain.

"As well as showing researchers what can be achieved with support from Enterprise Ireland, we want to ensure that companies are aware of the potential that exists for them within the third level research community", he added.
Enterprise Ireland supports the bringing to market of technology from the research environment. Teams in the areas of Biotechnology, Industrial Technologies and Informatics work with researchers interested in seeing their research work put to commercial use. Funding and expert support is provided for industry oriented research.
A limited number of places are available at the Applied Research Forum which will take place from 9.30am-1pm on June 18th at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Please visit http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/appliedresearchforum  for further information.

" Enterprise Ireland is the Government agency responsible for the development and promotion of the indigenous business sector. Its mission is to accelerate the development of world-class Irish companies to achieve strong positions in global markets resulting in increased national and regional prosperity.

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For further information please contact:

Grace Fitzgerald, Communications & Media Relations Officer Research & Innovation, Enterprise Ireland t:   +353 1 8082746 m: +353 87 3286404