“The benefit of effective R&D investment is new companies, jobs and further investments by industry.” Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Mary Coughlan TD.

Wednesday 25^th November 2009.

Tánaiste addresses a key Research centres /Industry event whilst launching the CSET Commercialisation Forum at the Science Gallery, Dublin.

“The most effective case for continued investment in science and research is where it is linked directly to specific commercial initiatives for the creation of companies, jobs and the attraction of further investment.” according to An Tánaiste Mary Coughlan T.D. speaking today (Wednesday, 25 November 2009) at a joint meeting of top national research centres and their industry partners, at which she launched the CSET Commercialisation Forum.

The event in the Science Gallery, Dublin was hosted by the 10 Science Foundation Ireland funded Centres of Science Engineering and Technology (CSETs) along with the Tyndall National Institute. These leading centres undertake cutting-edge research in the broad thematic fields of Information Communications Technologies, Biotechnology and Sustainable energy/energy efficient technologies, with each working closely with a number of industry partners in the pursuit of their specific and specific and specialised area of science.

Speaking at the event, and addressing the industry partners specifically, An Tánaiste continued “There has been much debate about the value of investment in R&D of late. It’s very reassuring then to see many of the larger investors in the Irish economy here today reaffirming a commitment to planning and shaping part of your organisations’ futures from Ireland.”

The Tánaiste added “The top-class research centres with which you are collaborating have been established by the Government on the strength of their abilities to create world-class breakthroughs to serve the global market. Industry’s willingness to invest in, and share that work, is exactly what we must strive to grow and support as that engagement is the basis for a longer term commitment and for the continued existence of quality jobs, directly and indirectly”.

The SFI CSETs and the Tyndall National Institute have formal collaborations with over 80 industry partners who collectively are investing over €70m in those research programmes.

This is on top of approx €1.5bn of investment by those companies in Ireland where they are supporting up to 50,000 jobs.

The SFI CSETs parnters include major international corporations such as IBM, Cisco, Symantec, HP, Intel, Dell, Xilinx, Analog Devices, Medtronic and GSK as well as specialist expert companies growing out of the Irish economy. In addition the Tyndall National Institute in Cork has significant collaboration with companies including BT, Intel, Nokia-Siemens and Alcatel Lucent.

Among the initiatives unveiled today was the CSETs Commercialisation Forum (CFC) to share best practice on commercialisation between the CSETs to provide improved value to Ireland for the translation of research work into commercial reality.

The Tánaiste also stressed the importance of research centres and industry working together “The focus on collaboration with industry is critical to deriving value from our investment in research. In addition to the direct engagement in specific projects, the interaction of graduate students with industry enables them have a more active understanding of the commercial arena..” She concluded by saying “In addition the knowledge gained by researchers enables the creation of new, spin-out companies and thus supports the development of indigenous employment. Finally the collaborative approach deepens Ireland’s reputation as an Innovation Island, a message that we must constantly reiterate in international markets”.

SFI Director General Frank Gannon noted the accelerating synergy between the academic and the industry partners: “The experience of these centres is hugely encouraging. We have a very positive connectivity between the international and national investors and are seeing Irish talent staying at home and new international talent joining us. Now more than ever is time to hold strong in our resolve to create the right type of programmes and to maintain the commitment to R&D funding as our capabilities grow”.

Speaking on behalf of industry partners in research, Robert McCarthy, Manager, Innovative Environmental Solutions at IBM said: “Recent events in the world economy have shown that the imperative to become smarter is now greater than ever. This year's Global Location Trends report by IBM Global Business Services shows that global investment activity continues to widen, along with the potential for new growth and prosperity. Ireland experienced significant absolute and relative gains in inbound investment as a result of the country’s strengths in services and R&D, which is reflected in the country being the top global destination when taking account of population size.”

Prof. Brian MacCraith, Director of the Biomedical Diagnostic Institute (BDI) a CSET based at Dublin City University, acknowledged the critical responsibility of the CSETs in making Irish universities attractive internationally as homes for the best researchers: “There has been a great surge in what Irish universities are doing and the opportunity afforded to them. We are very conscious of our responsibility to deliver a jobs based dividend in return and to engage with industry to make that happen. The joint commercialization forum launched today is a very significant step as it fast tracks learning and capability in a way that would evolve much more slowly were individual institutions to be operating alone or only in their own interests”.

ENDS/ETE2139