Speech by Dr. Jimmy Devins T.D, Minister for Science, Technology & Innovation at the Launch of Hothouse DIT, Aungier St

20 November 2008

Professor Brian Norton, Mr. Flanagan, Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to visit DIT this evening for the launch of Hothouse in Aungier Street.

It is also my pleasure to use this opportunity to congratulate DIT on their considerable successes in the field of commercialisation and innovation, particularly in helping to launch 200 new companies who are in turn creating sustainable employment for more than 950 knowledge workers.

This is a tremendous achievement and illustrates the importance of contribution that Institutes of Technology will make in shaping the knowledge economy in future years.

The Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2006-2013 has a strong focus on the role that research and development can play as a provider of innovative, market-led products and services that are essential for economic competitiveness and growth.

The Government, through its agencies Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, provides substantial support to colleges and higher-level institutions to develop their research facility. Funding provided through these agencies provides support to third level colleges to develop their research capability and foster links with industry thereby encouraging the increase its use of cutting edge technology.

We have committed the economy to a high level of investment in innovation in all its forms with the aim of making Ireland a dynamic, knowledge-driven economy.

The expenditure provision for Science, Technology and Innovation in my Department’s Vote will be €335 million in 2009, an increase of 3% on the 2008 allocation, and this is now over nine times the level of investment made in 2000.

This investment is testament to the determination of the Government to maintain the already substantial effort to build a knowledge economy and to underpin Ireland’s competitiveness in order to make secure our economic future.

The enhancements to the tax credit scheme for Research and Development announced in the budget, increasing from 20% to 25%, are also a sign of the Government’s strong commitment to promoting research partnerships.

Innovation capacity is not dependant on a one-off set of reforms or on a single set of policy instruments. Innovation impacts almost every policy domain and is not confined to the scientific and technological fields. Therefore we must be active on many fronts.

We are boosting our supports to education, lifelong learning, skills and support knowledge and physical infrastructures, particularly in our Institutes of technology. We can grow innovation capacity in may ways, among them by developing early-stage entrepreneurial thinking, providing a pathway to the commercialisation of Intellectual Property, efficient regulatory practices and policies and the creation of markets and public procurement opportunities for innovative products and processes.

To achieve and sustain the goal we have set ourselves, a partnership approach will be crucial. That is, the scientific research community in our higher education institutions, working with their colleagues in industry for the greater good of our economy and society.

In short, industry- academic partnerships will need to be nurtured and developed. I want to see our third-level institutes as engines of innovation, with our scientists and engineers at the core of economic development. The partnership approach also extends to inter-institutional collaboration as well as an integrated inter-agency approach.

The transfer of knowledge, technology and intellectual property from Ireland’s research institutions into the economy is critical to Ireland’s economic success in the more competitive times ahead.

Discoveries must be quickly translated from the research centres to the business world and the focus of that research must be on relevant areas of endeavour with the potential to have practical application.

It is excellent to hear of the world-class innovative research that is underway here in DIT and the successes that you are having in licensing innovative solutions to such household names as SONY, Bausch and Lomb, Sherman Williams and General Paints.

It is also very exciting to see that you are licensing to indigenous start-up companies like Decawave, one of your Hothouse companies that represented you well at the ITLG event yesterday.

They were one of 12 High Potential Start-up companies to present to senior Silicon Valley executives looking for investments here in Ireland.

The final piece in this jigsaw is commercialisation, the exploitation of new knowledge to create new businesses or to grow existing ones. There is a growing storehouse of intellectual property, which is held in our third level institutions, and which has the potential to create vibrant new products, services and businesses.

The Government, through Enterprise Ireland, is committed to supporting researchers who wish to capitalise on this opportunity. Very considerable resources have been allocated to programmes that focus on realising the commercial potential of Ireland’s research community. There are a number of schemes, administered by Enterprise Ireland, in this area:-

The Commercialisation Fund supports academic researchers to take the outputs of research with commercial potential and bring them to a point where they can be transferred into industry. This area is of significance given the need to achieve economic benefit from the investment in research infrastructure that has taken place.

The fund has seen an increasing level of application and it is anticipated that this will continue. Particular emphasis is being given to the final stages of support to ensure that transfer actually takes place to the benefit of the receiving company and in a manner that encourages the research to participate in the process in the future.

The Intellectual Property Fund provides support to third level institutions and industrial concerns to assist with the protection and management of patents. In the academic context it is part of a coherent package of supports, along with the Commercialisation Fund, to ensure the best possible level of technology transfer from research.

The Technology Transfer Strengthening scheme supports a network of dedicated staff placed within the commercialisation function of the third-level institutes and working directly in conjunction with them to ensure that best use is made of research outputs with commercial potential.

Finally, support is provided towards the costs of the building and management of Incubator Space associated with Institutes of Technology, to encourage the spin off of technology from the institution and the structured collaboration between firms in the locality and the college.

For the year 2008, over €46 million has been allocated to these schemes. Resources committed to these programmes have increased from €40 million in 2007, and from €33 million in 2006. So have no doubt, you have the full support of the Government for your efforts.

It is very encouraging to see the exhibits outside and the commitment that DIT is making to build on these successes and expand its Hothouse operation here in Aungier Street. This will have a profound effect on the economy on a micro and macro level.

I would now like to join with you Brian to congratulate the Hothouse team lead by Tom Flanagan Head of Commercialisation for their excellent work in helping entrepreneurs launch successful businesses and in helping researchers commercialise their research, and invite Tom to tell us about the researchers to whom we will present awards this evening.

ENDS/IP78