Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

SBIR is a mechanism, which enables public sector bodies to connect with innovative ideas and technology businesses, to provide innovative solutions for specific public sector challenges and needs.

SBIR falls under the category of pre-commercial procurement (PCP). PCP as defined by the European Union, involves the purchase of research by a Government entity, which is undertaken with the objective of stimulating innovation that the contracting authority or some other party may benefit from at a later stage, when goods or services are not currently available or developed from the outcomes of the research.

SBIR Ireland

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Ireland is the national innovation pre-commercial procurement initiative administered by Enterprise Ireland.  SBIR Ireland’s aim is to drive innovation across all sections of the Irish Public Sector via robust engagement with technology rich companies and organisations, through competitive challenges. SBIR itself is underpinned by a sharing of both risks and benefits between Contracting Organisations and Suppliers.

Enterprise Ireland has established a dedicated fund to co-support innovative and competitive Challenges in partnership with Irish Contracting Authorities.

Through SBIR, the Public sector can:

• Identify innovative solutions by reaching out to organisations from different sectors including small and emerging businesses.
• Create new technical solutions through accelerated technology development, whilst risk is reduced through a phased development programme.
• Provide applicants with a transparent, competitive and reliable source of early-stage funding.

Through SBIR, SMEs can:

• Compete for each demand driven project in a transparent manner.
• Demonstrate a route to market for their solution (SBIR is particularly suited to small and medium-sized business, as contracts are of relatively low value and operate in short timescales).
• Focus on specific identified needs, increasing the chance of exploitation as developments are 100% funded – it is not a government grant.
• Retain the intellectual property generated from the project (with certain rights of use retained by the contracting department).

SBIR Ireland Challenges

In 2018, 11 new SBIR Challenges launched on eTenders seeking innovative solutions:

Previous SBIR Challenges

In 2017, SBIR Ireland launched a number of Challenges with Irish Public Sector bodies: 

• Iarnród Éireann Challenge aims to provide Bridge warning, prevention and pre emptive systems/technologies for bridge strikes.
• Dublin Airport Wildlife Challenge aims to provide solutions to for wildlife entering airspace.
• Cork Airport Challenge aims to provide solutions for New Real Time Passenger Feedback Solution 
• Cork County Council Challenge aims to ‘Improve the Resilience of Cork’s Older Population During Critical Events’ by exploring low cost and accessible solutions that will help Cork’s older citizens maintain a good quality of life.
• Smart Dublin/Enterprise Ireland launched 3 SBIR Ireland Challenges to:
  • Source smart and low cost innovative solutions to tackle Illegal Dumping in Dublin 
  • Monitor and predict blocked gullies in high risk flooding areas 
  • Design wayfinding solutions in the Dublin region

SBIR News

• Small business initiative takes aim at diabetes in HSE tie-up (Irish Independent 20th Jan 2019)
• Innovation: give your SME a competitive edge with SBIR (New Frontiers blog 2nd Aug 2018)
• A fresh tendering approach to big societal problems (Irish Times 13th Dec 2018)
• Enterprise Ireland and HSE join forces to tackle Diabetes (Business World 14th Dec 2018)

Contact

If you are an SME or an Irish Contracting Authority and would like further information on current or upcoming SBIR Ireland Competitions, please contact:

 SBIR Ireland Twitter