Irish technology company SureWash recently announced that their innovative hand hygiene training solution has been adopted by the Seattle-based haemodialysis group, Northwest Kidney Centers. The announcement caps a busy year for the Dublin-based company in the Pacific Northwest, which included a visit by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D. to SureWash’s technology in a new health and wellness science exhibition.
Dublin-based, SureWash has developed an interactive hand-hygiene training system with three core benefits: the ability to save money, time, and lives. The company is now putting their innovative technology to use in the US market.
Since the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”), there has been a strong push towards reducing costs in the healthcare sector. SureWash’s technology saves money by reducing the labor needed to train and audit hand hygiene compliance. It saves time associated with hand-hygiene training and operating by providing e-learning to healthcare professionals on hospital wards at their own convenience.
By promoting effective hand-hygiene techniques, SureWash can help reduce the number of hospital acquired infections which ultimately saves lives. It is estimated that approximately 100,000 Americans die from hospital acquired infections each year and costs the US Healthcare system $30 billion a year. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 50% of these hospital acquired infections could be prevented by better hand-hygiene. This validates the need for SureWash’s technology in US hospitals.
Find out more about SureWash at www.surewash.com or follow on Twitter @surewash
Did you know that Enterprise Ireland is responsible for attracting US food and beverage companies to locate in Ireland?
Jonathan McMillan, in our New York office explains, “every week our team is working with US companies in the food and beverage sectors to identify and invest in ideal locations. Our shared aim is to help them grow and develop their international businesses, and to integrate with the world class food research & development infrastructure that exists in Ireland”.
As part of Enterprise Ireland’s role to help US food companies expand their business in Europe, Enterprise Ireland is organising an event on Nov 5th in Chicago: ‘Accelerate your Business in Europe’ knowledge and networking event.
“This food industry event will be a valuable opportunity for any US food and beverage company to meet, network, and learn from an international group of food manufacturers and industry experts. We are delighted that our Irish Government Minister Mr. Simon Coveney, Minister for Food, Agriculture and the Marine will join us in Chicago on Nov 5th for this event. This is a must attend event for any US food manufacturer who is interested in selling in Europe.”
Other speakers include: Stan McCarthy, CEO Kerry Group; Maree Gallagher, EU Food Lawyer at Maples and Calder; John Shapiro, Attorney at Freeborn & Peters LLP, Chicago; and, Dave Starr, CFO Edlong Dairy Technologies.
If you would like to register for this event please do so via this link: http://AccelerateInEurope.EventBrite.com
Enterprise Ireland HPSU client, Qstream, a provider of mobile sales enablement and analytics for driving high-performance teams, has completed a $2.85 million Series A funding round, bringing the total amount raised to $4.4 million, including $1.55 million in seed funding. The financing was led by Frontline Ventures, and included early investor Launchpad Venture Group and several significant individual investors.
As part of the round, Shay Garvey, co-founder of Frontline Ventures, will join the Qstream board. The funds will be used to accelerate sales and marketing of the company’s acclaimed SaaS solution in North America and Europe.
“We’re extremely impressed with the blue-chip client list and experienced management team that the company has attracted,” said Garvey. “Qstream’s solution capitalizes on the best elements of mobile technology, gamification, data and analytics and applies them to a business process that is still hamstrung with inefficiencies and primed for fresh approaches. We are delighted to help Qstream advance a new class of sales enablement cloud solutions that is better tuned to the changing face of business.”
Developed at Harvard, Qstream is clinically proven to keep reps sharp, increase knowledge retention by up to 170%, and help executives proactively measure and manage the strengths of their teams. Using any device, busy reps respond to scenario-based questions in just three minutes a day. Game mechanics such as scoring and leaderboards ensure user engagement, and a sophisticated analytics engine captures dozens of critical data points and instantly transforms them into actionable insights, such as identifying opportunities for tailored coaching.
To date Qstream has delivered more than 180 million questions in nine languages to sales reps and others for product launch support, competitive threat management and response, and strategic business initiatives. With tens of thousands of registered users, Qstream’s customers include some of the world’s top brands in life sciences, technology and financial services including Genentech, Boehringer Ingelheim, Intuitive Surgical, Oracle, SunGard, Rackspace and SunTrust.
Next week Enterprise Ireland’s Julie Sinnamon will take on her new role as CEO of Enterprise Ireland.
Following a rigorous process and evaluation of applicants from Ireland and overseas, Julie was appointed as CEO of Enterprise Ireland in August 2013.
Julie has worked in Enterprise Ireland since the agency was founded in 1998, before which she spent 10 years in IDA Ireland and Forfás. She has considerable experience in a variety of industry sectors and international markets. Her most recent role was Executive Director for Global Business Development in Enterprise Ireland.
Julie is replacing Frank Ryan, who has been CEO of Enterprise Ireland for the last 10 years, during which time Enterprise Ireland client company exports jumped from €10bn/annum to €16bn/annum.
Making the announcement, Terence O’Rourke, Chairman of the board of Enterprise Ireland said “I would like to congratulate Julie on her appointment which takes effect on 3rd November 2013. The Board was very impressed with Julie's knowledge of, and background in, enterprise development, her understanding of the challenges facing Irish enterprise and her vision for its further development. Julie will now develop and build on the considerable strengths of the organisation built up by the great work of Frank Ryan over the past 10 years”.
The CEO Forum is an annual event jointly organised by Enterprise Ireland and Deloitte. The 2013 event will be the 25th annual CEO Forum. This year's event is taking place in Dublin Castle on the 21st of November and the theme is “Innovation and Success in the New Global Economy”.
The primary focus of the CEO Forum is to create an opportunity for chief executives to discuss what they perceive to be the major issues facing their companies and Irish businesses. The forum provides a unique opportunity for CEOs to share information, air their views and hear, first-hand, the experiences of some of Ireland’s leading CEOs, who talk about their businesses and the challenges they face both nationally and internationally.
The Forum has become one of the principle business conferences held in Ireland. It is an invitation only event and in recent years has attracted an audience of 350-400 senior Irish business people.
This year's audience will hear speakers and panellists from companies such as Google Ireland, Dairymaster, Openet Telecoms and Foxframe, addressing the central discussions of this year’s forum - "Keys to Success in the Global Economy" and "Celebrating Excellence Through Innovation”.
The third Global Irish Economic Forum was held in Dublin Castle 4-5 October. The focus of this Forum was on finding ways to overcome the challenges facing our economy with particular emphasis on opportunities for job creation. The Forum was attended by over 250 leading Irish and Irish-connected members of the Global Irish Network, who were joined by members of the Government, Government Departments, State Agencies, members of the Opposition and leading members of the Irish business and cultural sectors. The Forum consisted of a mixture of plenary sessions, panel discussion, working groups and networking opportunities.
As part of the overall Forum, Enterprise Ireland held an Industry event aimed at highlighting key opportunities for growing business in international markets and to outline how Network members can facilitate Irish companies in exploiting these opportunities. This event, in which Bord Bia and InterTradeIreland also participated, brought together 90 client companies and 40 Global Irish Network members. The event took the form of ‘Roundtable’ discussions across a number of different themes and issues affecting the following industry sectors – Cleantech; Financial Services; Industrial Manufacturing; Medical Technology; Technology/ICT; Food, and also a discussion around Female Entrepreneurs.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, recently announced the creation of 25 new jobs and a €3.5m expansion plan at Carlow company Burnside Eurocyl Ltd. This investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland. A number of the new jobs have been filled and the remainder will be filled over the next 18 months, bringing total employment at Burnside to 170.
Burnside Eurocyl is a member of the Burnside group and is a family owned company. It is one of Europe’s largest hydraulic cylinder manufacturers and supplies original equipment manufacturers on a Just-in-Time basis. Clients include household names like Volvo and JCB, as well as industry stalwarts Komatsu, Doosan Bobcat and the Wirtgen Group among others. The €3.5m investment will allow Burnside Eurocyl to expand its manufacturing facilities, upgrade R&D facilities, and train employees in Lean manufacturing techniques.
Tom and Anthony Byrne, Joint Managing Directors of Burnside Eurocyl Ltd said: “We are committed to growing the business in Carlow and this investment will enable us to expand our customer base over a wider geographic area and also into new market sectors. A major factor in the continuing success of Burnside Eurocyl is our committed and experienced workforce - most of whom have been with us for many years. The investment will also allow us to expand our employee training programme and further develop our Lean manufacturing systems, not only creating 25 new jobs in Carlow but also securing the jobs of our existing employees”.
“The continued support from Enterprise Ireland, together with this investment, gives us the platform to grow the business and expand our sales by 30% over the next three years”.
The expansion plan will enable Burnside Eurocyl to increase its export business by 10% per year. Currently 95% of all sales are exported to 16 countries across mainland Europe, USA and Canada and they have more recently commenced business in China and Russia.
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny recently announced that indigenous technology company I.T. Alliance Group is to create 75 jobs over the next year as part of a €2m investment. The investment is supported by Enterprise Ireland.
I.T. Alliance Group, which currently employs over 400 people, has developed a global niche as an IT outsourcing partner to the world’s leading IT outsourcing companies.
I.T. Alliance customers include Microsoft, BT, IBM, DELL and HP. I.T. Alliance started in a two person office in Dublin in 1997 and today its specialist areas include IT project management, IT service management, testing, infrastructure technologies and resource management.
In June 2012 the company entered the global cloud computing services market with the establishment of a new company, Auxilion, which provides IT support and cloud services. Auxilion already employs 30 people based out of the new Park West headquarters providing 24x7 global support, with a sister office in Sheffield, UK.
I.T. Alliance and Auxilion have already started to recruit for the 75 new jobs covering a range of positions across the IT spectrum and also account management, project management, digital marketing and business operations.
Philip Maguire, CEO and founder, I.T. Alliance Group said: “This is a great time to be in the technology business in Ireland. The tech world is undergoing fundamental change globally and that creates opportunities. While there is a shortage of IT skills worldwide, the Government is making strides to address the issue here. Combined with our indigenous creative skills I see no reason why Irish companies cannot create strong, dominant technology brands that compete internationally over the next decade, especially those in the emerging cloud sector.”
Welcoming the announcement Frank Ryan, CEO, Enterprise Ireland, said: “Enterprise Ireland has worked closely with I.T. Alliance in supporting its strategic investment and development to drive continued international growth. This is a highly ambitious and innovative company that has already won an impressive international client base. We look forward to continuing to work with and support I.T. Alliance.”
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., recently led a major Enterprise Ireland education and technology mission that included 30 companies and education institutions to Brazil.
Major opportunities for Irish companies and Higher Educations Institutes in Ireland’s largest Latin America market
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., recently led a major Enterprise Ireland education and technology mission that included 30 companies and education institutions to Brazil.
The mission, organised by Enterprise Ireland which ran from October 19th to 25th coincided with a major higher education fair in Sao Paulo and Futurecom, the largest Telecommunications, Information Technology and Internet event in Latin America.
Jennifer Condon, Head of Internationally Traded Services and Software at Enterprise Ireland, described the mission as a very timely and exciting opportunity for Irish firms seeking to expand their global market presence.
“There are significant and realisable opportunities for increased trade and partnerships between Irish and Brazilian companies and education institutes. With an intense schedule of education and trade focussed activity, the mission will give the participants important networking opportunities with their Brazilian partners, and support for their market entry, development and sales strategies. We are confident that further growth and business success will come from this mission and will support our clients in every way possible to exploit this huge market,” she said.
The Minister of State for Commuter and Public Transport, Mr. Alan Kelly T.D., recently led an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Russia, focussed on the aviation sector and the growing opportunities for Irish companies in this major market.
The trade mission, which was based in Moscow was organised with the support of the Irish embassy in Russia, and included 20 best-in-class Irish companies from the aviation sector. Russia has become a key export market over the past two years for many of these companies and the mission aimed to reinforce the broad range of products and services they offer to Russian airlines and aviation buyers.
The aviation industry in Ireland is directly responsible for 26,000 jobs with an estimated further 16,000 jobs supported in the aviation supply chain. This sector also contributes €4.1 billion to Ireland’s GDP (€1.9bn directly, with €2.2bn from the supply chain and associated spending).
In the next decade the Russian government is planning a major €140 billion infrastructural and aviation transport services programme. Major growth is also being seen in the total value of the Russian online travel market, which grew 26% to $6.2 billion in 2012, and is expected to double in 2013. These developments open major opportunities for Irish suppliers.
Highlighting these opportunities Enterprise Ireland’s Head of International Sales and Partnering, Kevin Sherry, said: ‘This Trade Mission is a very timely and exciting opportunity for Irish companies seeking to expand their business in the growing aviation market in Russia. This market offers enormous potential for ambitious Irish companies. An intense schedule of trade focused activity will give the participating companies important networking opportunities with their Russian partners, and support for their market entry, development, and sales strategies. We are confident that further growth and business successes will result from this trade mission and from the significant effort currently being put into the market by Irish companies’.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD, recently launched a new report which highlights the economic impact of NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs, in Ireland and internationally. NovaUCD is part-funded by Enterprise Ireland and works closely with Enterprise Ireland’s Research and Innovation Division in the Technology Transfer and Commercialisation space.
At NovaUCD new high-tech and knowledge-intensive start-up companies are nurtured and supported to enable them to develop, grow and create jobs. UCD’s technology transfer team, which is responsible for the commercialisation of the intellectual property emerging from UCD’s world-class research programmes, is also based at NovaUCD.
Frank Ryan, CEO, Enterprise Ireland was interviewed as part of the report. He said, “The results of the NovaUCD economic impact survey are very positive and demonstrate that NovaUCD is a key component of Ireland’s technology transfer system and is an example of what we excel at here in Ireland.”
He added, “From Enterprise Ireland’s point of view our objective is jobs and increased exports and we welcome being involved in leading-edge applied science that can be commercialised. This is key for Enterprise Ireland and we believe an ecosystem that includes NovaUCD is very attractive and advantageous for the country.”
A video highlighting the results of the report is below:
Are you attending Dublin Web Summit 2013? If not you should be!
Dublin Web Summit is taking place on the 30th & 31st of October 2013 in the Main Hall of the RDS Arena, Ballsbridge, Dublin.
Are you attending Dublin Web Summit 2013? If not you should be!
Dublin Web Summit is taking place on the 30th & 31st of October 2013 in the Main Hall of the RDS Arena, Ballsbridge, Dublin.
The Web Summit is growing year on year and what began as a small conference with 500 attendees three years ago has grown to become Europe’s biggest Tech Conference, with over 10,000 attendees expected at the 2013 event. This is the place where exciting startups mingle with investors, large companies learn from industry leaders, and where disruptive businesses exhibit their latest innovations.
So why should you attend?
This year’s Summit will have more than 350 speakers, from the world’s leading founders, investors and CEOs to investors, designers and thinkers.
Among the big names announced are: Tony Hawk, Founder of the Tony Hawk Foundation, Drew Houston, Co-Founder and CEO of Dropbox, Jai Bregman, CEO Hailo, Nicola Mendelsohn, VP EMEA of Facebook, and many many more. For more info on the speaker line up click here.
Thousands of CEOs and managers of the world's most revolutionary companies fly thousands of miles to attend Dublin Web Summit. Technology is changing every industry, every business and every role faster than at any other point in modern history. The Web Summit will provide you with an opportunity to learn about that change first hand.
There is a packed agenda of speakers and networking over the two days, and also a large number of side events taking place.
What’s Enterprise Ireland’s Involvement?
Enterprise Ireland is a platinum partner of Dublin Web Summit 2013 and will host a stand at the event.
There are over 80 of Enterprise Ireland’s client companies taking part in the event and our overseas offices are bringing over 40 potential customers/partners and investors who are specifically interested in meeting with Enterprise Ireland client companies.
As well as hosting a stand and helping our client companies, HPSU & Scaling Divisional Manager Lisa Vaughan will be speaking in a panel discussion on the 30th about Creating Tech Eco-Systems.
ESB are running a “Spark of Genious Award” at this year's Web Summit. The winners will receive €25,000. Applications closed in September and the 30 finalists have been announced, a large amount of which are Enterprise Ireland client companies. We would like to congratulate our client companies on doing so well and wish them the very best in the final stage of the competition.
21 inventors pitched their new technologies to an audience of over 450 potential investors recently at the Enterprise Ireland Big Ideas technology showcase in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin 4.
Minister Sherlock also presented Commercialisation Awards at the event to three people who have demonstrated excellence in commercialisation.
The aim of the event is to connect the inventors with the right investors and business partners to establish new companies and create high-value jobs.
The inventors are researchers from Higher Education Institutes who have used public-funding to develop innovative technologies including;
• treatments for high-blood pressure, varicose veins and dementia • non-stick, biodegradable chewing gum • data security for documents stored in the cloud • smart paint that transforms any surface into a whiteboard • surgical innovations • safe, natural clean-up solutions for toxic dumps • a movement analysis tool for athletes • an ‘effortless’ clothes hanger
In his welcome to the investors attending the event, Gearóid Mooney, Enterprise Ireland’s Research and Innovation Manager outlined the path that the inventors took to get an audience with potential investors; “All of the ‘big ideas’ have come through the national technology transfer system which is funded through Enterprise Ireland. Initially the technologies were developed by the researchers in Irish Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) using public research funds. Then they were commercialised with funding and advice from Enterprise Ireland and the Technology Transfer Office within the HEIs. “Many of the inventors have been teamed-up with business partners by Enterprise Ireland. The inventors and their teams have worked incredibly hard to get to this point where they are now ready to do deals with investors” said Mooney.
Minister Sherlock also presented Commercialisation Awards at the event to three people who have demonstrated excellence in commercialisation.
The Lifescience & Food Commercialisation Award was presented to professor Louise Kenny for developing and commercialising the first predictive diagnosis for pre-eclampsia in early pregnancy.
Pre-eclampsia is a very common condition affecting 5% of first time mothers. Currently, 70-80,000 mothers and over 500,000 infant deaths are attributed to pre-eclampsia each year and it is responsible for occupancy of approximately 20% of neonatal intensive care unit cots. If ‘at risk’ first time mothers could be identified in early pregnancy, steps could be taken to prevent almost a third of cases.
The ICT Commercialisation Award was presented to Tony O’Dowd for licensing a piece of research generated at the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL) at Dublin City University, to form a start-up company called Xcelerator Machine Translations Ltd. The company currently has 14 full time employees and is growing a substantial client base with an innovative cloud based machine translation services. The company’s premier product is now marketed as “KantanMT”
The Manufacturing, Engineering & Energy Commercialisation Award was presented to Dr. Mark Southern in recognition of his outstanding record in raising the core productivity of Irish manufacturers – thus enabling them to go further in their new product development, sales and exports. Dr. Southern’s team at the University of Limerick helps companies by matching their technical issues and challenges to state-of-the-art solutions in manufacturing measurement, simulation, software and statistical know how.
Enterprise Ireland network a boost to regional innovation and job creation
A nationwide network of Technology Gateways, capable of delivering technology-based solutions for companies in Ireland was launched by Seán Sherlock T.D. Minister for Research & Innovation last week in Thomond Park, Limerick.
Enterprise Ireland network a boost to regional innovation and job creation
A nationwide network of Technology Gateways, capable of delivering technology-based solutions for companies in Ireland was launched by Seán Sherlock T.D. Minister for Research & Innovation last week in Thomond Park, Limerick.
This is a €23million investment by the Government through Enterprise Ireland in 12 Technology Gateways located in 8 Institutes of Technology; Athlone IT, Cork Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute of Technology, IT Tallaght, IT Tralee, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Limerick Institute of Technology and Waterford Institute of Technology.
Designed to act as the ‘R&D arm’ of companies, the Technology Gateways will focus on delivering technology solutions through collaborative projects with the research teams in the Institutes of Technology.
Expertise is available to companies in technology areas such as; applied biotechnology, connected media, biodiagnostics, engineering materials, pharmaceutical and healthcare, mobile services, coatings innovations, embedded systems, polymer technologies, intelligent sensor systems, photonics and wireless solutions.
Speaking at the event, Declan Lyons, Enterprise Ireland explained that Technology Gateways will connect the research and innovation capabilities of the Institutes of Technology to the companies that need novel technology solutions.
“Enterprise Ireland and the teams in the Technology Gateways are committed to solving the technical challenges faced by companies in their efforts to develop new products and services. The beauty of this network is that if one Gateway doesn’t have the answer, they can put out a call to the other 11 in the network to find it” concluded Lyons.
For more information on the Technology Gateway Network visit: www.technologygateway.ie
The greatest challenge every start-up faces is to deliver products that customers want and are prepared to pay for. Discovering that group of customers is a risky business of trial and error. The timeline to find these customers is tight and runway limited.
Enterprise Ireland is delighted to announce the launch of a new initiative, SPRINT, to help founders address this challenge.
The greatest challenge every start-up faces is to deliver products that customers want and are prepared to pay for. Discovering that group of customers is a risky business of trial and error. The timeline to find these customers is tight and runway limited.
Enterprise Ireland is delighted to announce the launch of a new initiative, SPRINT, to help founders address this challenge.
SPRINT sets out to fundamentally change the way Irish start-ups are built by equipping founders with the tools to get to product-market fit faster. It combines Silicon Valley and local expertise to provide a systematic way of helping founders learn what customers want more quickly.
Places on SPRINT will be awarded to successful applicants of the Digital Content Competitive Fund (CSF) which was launched in September 2013. A small number of places are also available to digital content companies who were successful in achieving CSF in previous years, on a competitive basis. The closing date for applications is 4 November 2013.
If you think you might fit the profile and would be interested in learning more please contact paula.carroll@enterprise-ireland.com or click here to find out more.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Richard Bruton TD, together with the Minister of State for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD, recently announced Government support for Dairygold Co-Operative Society Limited’s €33 million investment to expand and upgrade its milk processing facilities at Mitchelstown, County Cork.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Richard Bruton TD, together with the Minister of State for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD, recently announced Government support for Dairygold Co-Operative Society Limited’s €33 million investment to expand and upgrade its milk processing facilities at Mitchelstown, County Cork. This investment has been supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland.
100 jobs will be created in the construction, installation and commissioning phases of the new processing facilities. Dairygold is Ireland’s largest farmer owned business and the country’s second largest dairy processor, processing 950 million litres or 20% of Ireland’s milk pool to produce a range of cheese and dairy ingredients for export to more than 50 countries.
Following the abolition of EU milk quotas in April 2015 Dairygold’s 3,000 milk supplying Members have forecast to increase annual milk production by more than 50% by 2020. This equates to an increase of 500 million litres per annum and requires an expansion in Dairygold’s peak processing capacity.
The investment will establish a new six tonne/hour multi-purpose milk drying facility and a variety of infrastructure and plant enhancements at its Castlefarm site in Mitchelstown, Co Cork. It will increase Dairygold’s overall peak processing capacity and represents the conclusion of phase one of the Society’s Processing Capacity Plan to 2020. When completed the facility will be the Irish Dairy industry’s first post quota infrastructure to become operational with commissioning scheduled for next year’s peak milk season. All produce from its expanded processing capacity will be destined for export markets.
In addition to 100 jobs created in the construction, installation and commissioning phases of the new processing facilities the project will also give rise to sustained employment at the Castlefarm site in Mitchelstown. Enterprise Ireland Head of Food Michael Cantwell said, “An important element of the investment for both Dairygold and Enterprise Ireland was the huge emphasis on utilising latest technology to provide a more sustainable processing platform, which will result in reduced energy and emissions per litre of milk processed. This is being achieved through a variety of energy efficiency gains and environmental improvements including heat recovery, and water reduction measures. This sustainability emphasis is something that Enterprise Ireland strongly supports.”
Add the date of Wednesday, 27th November 2013 to your calendar for the first ever Technology Centre Expo. The Expo will showcase the cutting-edge research currently underway at 15 Technology Centres and takes place in The Pavilion at Leopardstown Racecourse, Dublin 18.
This half-day event will bring together key representatives from Irish industry and the main players from Ireland’s research community, who are collaborating on creating the next wave of products, services and technologies in key sectors including Business Processes, Energy, Food & Health, Manufacturing & Materials; and Edtech, Data Analytics and Cloud Computing.
The 15 technology centres are funded under the Technology Centres Programme, which is a joint initiative between Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. The programme is designed to extract commercial and employment benefits from the strong base of scientific research built up at Irish Higher Education Institutes over the past decade.
The Technology Centre Expo provides the perfect opportunity to meet representatives from each of the centres, network with their industry partners, see demonstrations of the technology solutions created and learn how getting involved can benefit your business.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD will also attend the event.
For more information about this exciting event click here. To register please click here.
2014 Budget and Eurozone Update, Dublin, 10/12/2013
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, T.D. opened the Enterprise Ireland Med in Ireland Conference 2013 last Wednesday 23 October in the Convention Centre Dublin.
The attendees included 340 buyers from medical technology companies, including the global top 10 who represent 50% of the world’s med tech purchasing power.
The attendees included 340 buyers from medical technology companies, including the global top 10 who represent 50% of the world’s med tech purchasing power.
Speaking to the 800+ international guests attending the event, Julie Sinnamon, CEO Designate Enterprise Ireland pointed out that sales in the Irish life-sciences sector now exceed €1BN.
“As a small country, Ireland has been able to bring together highly innovative indigenous companies, large well-established FDI multinationals, a continually developing world-class research base and strong links with the clinical community to create this rich and convergent landscape with world-class expertise across key sectors such as biopharma, medtech and ICT”, she said.
“This ‘cohesiveness’ is now a key competitive strength internationally and Enterprise Ireland has organised Med in Ireland 2013 to capitalise on this and facilitate new strategic partnerships between Irish and international companies” said Sinnamon.
Minister Bruton also officially opened the technology exhibition where the majority of the business took place. 81 Irish companies showcased their products and services to international buyers and engaged in 1,200 one-to-one partnership meetings scheduled by Enterprise Ireland with a view to doing business. These meetings built on progress made during 150 site visits to Irish med tech companies which took place in recent days.
During the conference Minister Bruton also announced the winner of the Clinical Innovation Award 2013, Julia O'Rourke, for her technology, REMPAD.
REMPAD is a software reminiscence therapy for sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia. The Clinical Innovation Award 2013 is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and Cleveland Clinic. Julia O’Rourke, a senior speech and language therapist, was presented with the award by Minister Bruton.
Rempad is a new software tool which uses multi-media content to connect carers and residents with memories from the past to enhance the overall wellbeing of nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer’s.
There are 35 million people living with dementia worldwide, and this will triple by 2050. Rempad’s reminiscence therapy software uses historical artifacts such as photos and broadcast footage to stimulate memories from the past and help individuals or groups to communicate.
O’Rourke collaborated with the Adelaide and Meath Hospital and researchers at CLARITY in Dublin City University to develop REMPAD.
O’Rourke will receive a grant of €15,000 to work with Enterprise Ireland and Cleveland Clinic to develop the commercial aspects of the software.
Julia and the team trialled the REMPAD prototype with 7 Irish nursing homes last year, all of which expressed a commitment to subscribe when REMPAD becomes commercially available. REMPAD was found to benefit the resident, the carer and the care home. Residents reported increased well-being and carers found the system easy to use and reported a greater knowledge about the lives of the people in their care after use.
Enterprise Ireland and Cleveland Clinic also recognised the other finalists. Mr. Sherif Sultan is a Consultant Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon in the Western Vascular Institute at University Hospital Galway, and the Galway Clinic. He was selected as a finalist for his work on stem cell treatment of peripheral vascular disease.
Dermot Kenny, Professor of Cardiovascular Biology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Beaumont Hospital, was selected as a finalist for his work to develop a diagnostic for Cardiovascular disease using platelet stickiness. They will both receive Feasibility funding from Enterprise Ireland to investigate the commercial potential of their ideas.
