Information and Technology Transfer

Ireland still invests heavily in education and research and the rate of constant innovation has been and will continue to be the driving force behind the success of the country.

Ireland’s economy consisted of an effective business climate, a stable economy, major foreign direct investment, EU aid and a progressive social partnership agreement. The government invested heavily in education and the result was employers found it easier to

find skilled workers helping them to expand their operations. Although over the last number of years the rate of growth has slowed down, the country still sees the importance of putting huge investment into education and research. Ireland is investing in a knowledge based future. There is no set innovation plan for the country; Ireland’s innovation system is under constant review with the objective of continuing to attract foreign industry investment from abroad. Ireland does not have an entrepreneurial culture to compare with the US, but Ireland is still progressing and developing.

Education is extremely important to attract the foreign investment. So investment by the government in education became priority. The number of universities grew from 4 in the 1950’s to 7 today with 13 institutes of technology. The high emigration that had prevailed in Ireland was somewhat due to the fact that graduates found it difficult to find jobs, now though many who had previously emigrated returned and the skills level of the country increased.

The plan became to continue attracting research expertise from abroad and nurture home grown innovative businesses. The large amount of multinationals was important but while Ireland was an important base for these companies some of them largely depended on their home countries for research, so the objective became to increase and embed new technology and innovation in companies in Ireland. The second part of the strategy was to develop indigenous industry, and make a move away from traditional companies to concentrate on innovation. Research found that indigenous companies were lacking in the area of innovation and that continued pressure from the export market will help focus their minds.

The National Development Plan 2000-2006, is encouraging current innovation activities.

The plan was to invest 52 billion Euros in national infrastructure, 90% of this was to come from domestic sources which is a huge figure for a country with such a small population. Almost 2.5 billion Euros was reserved for research, technology and innovation developments. Funding for academic strategic research came from (SFI) Science Foundation Ireland focusing on ICT and biotechnology. These two areas were identified as the most relevant by a technology foresight exercise. The SFI’s aim is to attract the best people internationally and they have put over 25 projects into operation to achieve this. The projects that they are funding are mainly proposed by universities and

staffed by international teams, as they aim to attract the best people internationally. The challenge comes then in translating research into products and services that can sell. The agency Enterprise Ireland manages a number of schemes to promote innovation in Irish business. One initiative is a research grant scheme called Innovation Partnerships which supports collaborative research and RTI (research, technology and innovation) which assist companies especially SMEs to invest in research projects. Another scheme R&D Capability assists companies to set up R&D infrastructure such as buildings and machinery. The R&D Awareness Initiative also offers seminars and consultancy support for firms about how to get started. Training courses on how to manage innovation are run by the Innovation Management Initiative and the Design Initiative promotes good design through a “design and brand” audit that can then be developed with the help of specialist consultants. Ireland’s Innovation Relay Centre is run by Enterprise Ireland and they help companies to source technologies and products from partners in Europe.

3.3.1 Risk Taking

Risk taking attitude hasn’t developed in Ireland at the same rate as innovation so to promote more risk taking and innovation policies and schemes have been implemented.

As important as innovation is how can companies be encouraged to be more innovative.

Research and Development is just one element of the innovation process, other important elements include leadership and innovation skills. So the question is how to get existing companies to act and think innovatively? So when analyzing innovation from a non technical perspective other areas need concern such as entrepreneurship, training, creativity, innovation management and long-term vision and financial management.

So the question remains if Ireland has created an entrepreneurial culture? Irish entrepreneurs are visible internationally so does this mean a culture of climate and awareness has been established?

The annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey found that Ireland had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity of all EU member states, with double the proportion of adults in entrepreneurial activity than others in the EU. One of the reasons for this is the attitude towards failure. Starting a business is risky and for every business that succeeds and grows countless fail. Failure in Ireland is frowned upon, and maybe an attitude

change is needed to encourage more risk taking as in the US. Due to this needed concentration on progression and innovation, the budget for research and innovation has to be constantly increased each year, with a 39% increase recorded in 2004. The national ability to innovate will determine the competitiveness, long-term success and economic growth for the future.