R&D: Developing Tomorrow's Success

Tom Corcoran, Centre Manager, Research and Innovation Centre, WIT

Dr. Declan Raftery, Director of Research at Dublin City University

In order to move up the Industrial Evolutionary Scale and develop our own multinational companies, the Educational Institutions are now at the heart of the government's new strategy on Research and Development, reports Shane McGinley.

Research and development is the key to the future and development of Ireland's business economy, as the entrepreneurial era that we live in today touches every corner of the globe, driven by market and competitive forces. Maximising productivity is essential to succeeding in today's global market and the role that research and development plays within is crucial.

In recent years research and development in Ireland has expanded exponentially thanks to healthy financial backing at Government level. In June 2006 a new strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation was launched and it was announced that €3.8 billion would be invested in the sector over the next 7 years.

As aims of the strategy include a doubling of postgraduates, with 1,000 PhDs every year by 2013 and a further 315 postgrads in the humanities and social sciences. Of all the areas currently in the sector five industries were highlighted for further development, which are agri-food, marine industries, energy, healthcare and the environment.

Science, Technology And Innovation Strategy

The strategy is very ambitious, believes Dr. Declan Raftery, Director of Research at Dublin City University, as it is the first time the government has brought all the different players together, from industry, the funding bodies and the educational and research institutions, to look at the at the sector legitimately. "The challenge is delivering on the strategy with sustained funding regardless of the economic cycle as this is about investing in the future," comments Raftery.

"Science, Technology and Innovation are vital to our economic and social progress. In an increasingly globalised world, it is recognised that high levels of investment in research and innovation are essential, both for economic competitiveness, and to yield innovations in areas such as healthcare and environmental technologies which make tangible improvements to our quality of life," Micheal Martin, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment said launching the strategy.

While research and development R&D] may be good for improving quality of life it is also important for sustaining Ireland's economic growth. Politicians have been using buzz words such as "knowledge economy" as frequently as they previously used Celtic Tiger", but it shows that Ireland has now moved up the evolutionary scale and now aims to attract more high level investment.

Dundalk Institute of Technology which is involved in the Fusion project – nurturing cross border R&D partnerships

"The problem is that the cost base is very high and there is a short supply of labour so we are not as competitive now, so policy has changed," says Raftery of the IDA, "they are now after R&D teams so they can develop new innovative products and systems that can be carbon copied around the world." An essential link in this process, he believes, are the universities and educational institutions, which are the "knowledge pipelines" for the "knowledge economy".

Interaction

This can already be seen in ITs and universities across the country where institutes, such as Waterford IT [WIT], have appointed a head of research to centrally co-ordinate and develop their policy on R&D.

The interaction between the institutes and the commercial sector happens in a number of ways. Very often, reports Tom Corcoran of WIT, companies need research carried out but do hot have the mechanisms to facilitate it. They can approach the institutes and be paired with an academic research team that are working in a similar sector.

The research building at Waterford Institute of Technology

"We put people into the project and they put cash and expertise into the project," says Corcoran. The institutes also help the companies establish grant aid from the various funding bodies.

Exploiting The Research

Alternatively if an academic is working on a piece of research that is commercially viable the institute's industry liaison officer can partner them with a commercial company that can exploit the research. For example WIT's Telecommunications Software and Systems Group (TSSG) works in partnership with Ericsson, Lake Communications, Motorola, BT, O2, Telefonica, Siemens, Thales and Eircom and was granted €5 million from the Higher Education Authority, €4.5 million from Science Foundation Ireland and over €12 million from the European Union.

Depending on the research contract there are number of structures the research partnership can take. The institute can simply carry out a piece of short term research with a company and then their role is finished, but in other cases spin out companies can be formed to exploit the results of the research and ownership of the resultant company is shared between the institute and the commercial partner.

All Island Research

The research facility at Dublin City University

The research projects taken on by the institutes usually reflects the institutes' academic history and focus, however they also work in collaboration with other bodies and can usually facilitate a company's research requirements. Dundalk IT works with institutions in the North, mainly Queens University and the North Down Institute, through the Fusion programme. This cross border initiative encourages links between institutions in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

"Companies in the North recruit graduates from the South to carry out research and vice versa. If a company approaches any of the institutes and we can't help them we would refer them to the other cross border institutes and through Fusion we can find some organisation that can help with their research request," reports Sean Mac Entee of Dundalk IT.

Entrepreneurially Focused

The commercialisation of research in the institutions has also resulted in academic researchers becoming increasingly more entrepreneurially focused and many of the educational bodies have financial incentives in place in order to encourage this, resulting in an increasing number of spin out companies being developed by the institutions, which have proven to be very successful in the market place.

No Budget For Research

"The challenge is to get greater involvement in the SME sector," believes Raftery. Many SMEs have been very successful but they are in very competitive markets, have a short lifespan, are in survival mode and very often have no spare budget for research.