INTERTRADEIRELAND:A well connected all-island innovation system that puts enterprise at its centre will ensure creative ideas are nurtured quickly and effectively to successful commercialisation.
A MORE OPEN model of innovation is needed to help firms develop concepts and take them to market, and InterTradeIreland has a vision of how to achieve success in that area, according to Aidan Gough, its strategy and policy director. It involves companies drawing on third-level institutions for intellectual property and taking on the financial resources of venture capitalists and the skills of other companies, consultants, suppliers and customers to create an "innovation ecosystem".
"Our aim is to have Ireland, North and South, recognised internationally as a centre of innovation excellence and to achieve this we have to create an island-wide innovation ecosystem," he says.
"This will be a well connected, open system of innovation that will also serve as a platform for companies to collaborate with other firms throughout the European Union."
Gough explains that the aim is innovative in itself. "Open innovation is often seen as the preserve of larger firms with access to corporate venture capital which can source ideas outside the firm on a global scale," he says. "However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can also adopt open innovation strategies through involvement in innovation partnerships and networks."
Companies need help to gain access to external knowledge, draw on alternative pathways to bring ideas to market, provide greater access to innovation capabilities and increase speed to market.
"An open innovation system working across Ireland can offer SMEs the potential to externally source and connect with a wider variety of relevant expertise than that currently available as well as opening up opportunities on the international stage," he says.
The innovation ecosystem envisaged by InterTradeIreland will provide for better use of existing resources by eliminating duplication and putting the individual enterprise at the centre of the process.
"Our focus is on the enterprise and ensuring it can access all the resources needed to engage in innovation," says Gough. Its Business Monitor Survey, carried out earlier this year, shows that most firms are interested in the idea.
The survey says that 71 per cent of companies plan to undertake new innovative activity over the next 12 months. Companies are realising the importance of marketing their goods and services in an innovative way already, with 25 per cent using social media to promote their business.
On the other side, some companies are not confident they have the skills in their organisation to drive innovation, with only 22 per cent of companies rating their creative or entrepreneurial skills as very strong, says Gough. "There are some very encouraging signs from the survey," he says. "These come from businesses doing the right things such as embracing innovation and reducing costs to improve competitiveness."
In developing this innovation ecosystem, InterTradeIreland's focus is on what Gough calls the three Cs: create, connect and commercialise.
"Our aim is to create an open system of innovation across the island that can provide for a more efficient and effective use of resources to the mutual benefit of the Ireland north and south, avoiding duplication and taking advantage of each other's strengths to create scale in both excellence and opportunity," he explains.
"A well connected all-island innovation ecosystem that puts enterprise at the centre will ensure creative ideas are nurtured quickly and effectively to successful commercialisation. Our aim will be to ensure that connections, whether technical or financial, exist across the island so that creative ideas have access to the best resources available.
"Connectivity is the central and constant theme on which all our innovation programmes are developed."
The focus will be on SMEs, says Gough. "Over 70 per cent of InterTradeIreland's budget is spent helping to build innovative capability and capacity in SMEs," he says. "Through our programmes and supports, we are helping companies to spark innovation in their businesses from cutting edge pharmaceutical companies through to manufacturers and mushroom farms."
Among the most important of the programmes it offers is Fusion, which fosters partnerships between business, academia and graduates.
"Through our Fusion programme, support packages worth up to €33,150 are available to companies to undertake a 12-month innovation project," says Gough.
A participating company is partnered with a third-level institution that has the specialist expertise it needs, along with a high-calibre science, engineering or technology graduate. The graduate is employed by the company and is based there throughout the project, with mentoring from the academic partner and an InterTradeIreland Fusion consultant.
The results of the programme are impressive. On average, each company taking part benefits from more than €1.15 million worth of sales or efficiency savings in the three years following the project.
The programme can help a business to develop or improve products, processes or services; streamline processes to increase efficiency and performance; develop and implement new technologies, systems or processes; improve capabilities in innovation, design and technology; reduce costs; and increase sales.
InterTradeIreland's company-to-company Innova Programme helps firms to form strategic partnerships with companies that offer complementary expertise in the opposite jurisdiction.
Funding worth up to €175,000 per project can be claimed to accelerate new product, process or service development. As well as financial support, companies benefit from pooling their expertise and resources with another firm to take their innovations to market faster than if they were working alone.
"Through Innova, we have released over €5 million to north-south company partnerships to date," says Gough.
Typical business benefits can include the development of new or improved products, processes or services; faster commercialisation; sharing otherwise inaccessible knowledge, technology and expertise; access to complimentary expertise and networks; and channels to market from the new business partner.
One company that has benefited from the Innova programme is Intelesens, a medical devices design and manufacturer in Belfast. Innova helped the company to partner with Valentia Technologies, a health software firm in Dublin.
As a result of the partnership, the two companies have developed a device that is worn by a heart patient in the home to monitor vital life signs in real-time and transmit information directly to the hospital, GP, care-worker or family member.
"The Innova programme has enabled us to link with another Irish company with a healthcare database product that complements our wireless patch monitoring technology perfectly," says Michael Caulfield, chief executive of Intelesens.
"The funding support will allow both companies to evaluate this groundbreaking health management service - which has real global commercial value - in a critical Irish healthcare scenario: the management of the health of cardiac patients in their own homes by hospital-based cardiac specialists."
Those firms with an interest in international best practice in the area of innovation are invited to attend a series of free lectures, seminars and masterclasses on the topic which are held throughout the year.
The events, which take place in Belfast, Dublin and Galway, are attended by business leaders, policy makers, students and academics from across the island.
"These are just some of the programmes through which we are supporting the creation of the island-wide innovation ecosystem," says Gough.
Others focus on such areas as research and development, networking and equity advisory services such as the All-island seedcorn business competition, the Halo business angel network.
"It's all about connectedness and that's what we are aiming to foster through all of these programmes - connectedness with other companies, with research or with finance or with all three to facilitate and promote innovation," says Gough.
* For more, see intertradeireland.com
