Many Irish enterprises could benefit from the experience of Garrett’s Butchers in Limerick, who accessed independent research through Enterprise Ireland’s Technology Gateway Network, to ensure high levels of quality assurance and customer satisfaction.

For six years, Enterprise Ireland has operated a Technology Gateway Network in partnership with 11 Irish Institutes of Technology (ITs), to provide bespoke research solutions to enterprises large and small, from multinationals employing thousands to family-owned operations including the two Garrett’s butcher shops run by husband and wife Garrett Landers and Fiona Madigan.

The research expertise available through the network is comprehensive. Each of the 15 gateways is focused on an industry sector, for example APT at Athlone IT specialises in applied polymer technologies, CREST at Technical University Dublin (TU Dublin, previously DIT) specialises in coatings innovation, MiCRA at TU Dublin-Tallaght handles biodiagnostics, while TSSG at Waterford IT is a world leader in mobile services.

For research projects that require a wide range of expertise, two or more gateways can be engaged. To further assist collaboration in key areas of economic activity, three technology clusters have been formed. Irish Food Tech is a consortium of seven Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways and supports innovation within the food and beverage technology sector. The Engineering, Materials and Design (EMD) Technology Cluster involves a consortium of six gateways and the Applied-Internet-of-Things (A-IoT) Technology Cluster involves five gateways working cooperatively.

Whether research involves EMD, A-IoT, pharmaceuticals, photonics technologies or another specialism, the first step in commissioning a project is to contact the Technology Gateway Manager at any of the Institutes of Technology, and they will provide the necessary referrals. These managers are funded by Enterprise Ireland and Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development Minister John Halligan TD has said the government will provide €26.75 million to maintain their operation over the next five years.

Since the network was established in 2013, Institute of Technology researchers have completed more than 3,050 innovative projects for over 2,000 Irish-based companies. Start-ups and small and medium enterprises make up around 80% of companies using the Technology Gateway Network.

Enterprise Ireland provides support for research projects through Innovation Vouchers and Innovation Partnership Programmes. Developed to build links between Ireland’s higher education institutes, public research bodies and small businesses, Innovation Vouchers worth €5,000 assist a company or companies to explore a business opportunity or problem with a registered knowledge provider. A maximum of three vouchers are available, one of which must be a 50-50 co-funded Fast Track voucher. Applications for Innovation Voucher support are not limited to Enterprise Ireland client companies.

While around 90% of projects fall within the €5,000 to €10,000 cost range, the largest project to date was for €907,000.

An independent review of Technology Gateways found that, after commissioning research, 63% of companies developed new products as a result, 46% reported an increase in overall value, 39% were able to access additional capital investment to further develop their businesses, and 19% reported that they would not have grown, or survived, without Technology Gateway support.

The same review showed that research commissioned via Technology Gateways has led to the creation of at least 1,250 new jobs and, on average, every €1 invested in research has resulted in an increase of more than €5 in company turnover.

There have been many success stories: Graph Engineering, an Irish family-run business specialising in the treatment of aluminium, partnered with CREST to trial new aluminium anodising techniques. Graph is ramping up its service offering thanks to this collaboration with CREST and other companies through the government-funded Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund.

In Limerick, Garrett’s carried out three research projects with Food@LIT, which is part of the Shannon ABC Technology Gateway. Now, customers of the award-winning butcher’s shop know that, not only is all of its shelf-life food-labelling fully accurate, the recipes and cures used are independently proven to be best quality – a great example of the commercial impact of investing in innovation.  

Mark Whelan is Technology Gateway programme manager at Enterprise Ireland.