MediaLab Europe, the flagship research institute set up by the State at a cost of €35 million, is seeking €10 million in "bridging financing" from the Government.
The Dublin-based institute has submitted the request to the Government in an effort to offset a shortfall in corporate funding that threatens its future viability, The Irish Times has learned.
MediaLab Europe, which was a pet project of the Taoiseach and was set up in co-operation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, is also seeking new funding from state bodies in other European Union countries and the European Commission.
The institute, which is the anchor tenant of the State's ambitious "Digital Village" project, could run out of cash next year.
Last week, results published by MediaLab Europe show that it spent €5.6 million more than it raised in funding in 2003. Annual operating expenses were €8.16 million, while the laboratory managed to raise less than €2 million in corporate funding - well below a projected funding level of €10 million in its initial business plan.
It is understood the Government is considering the request for additional funding, although it is concerned that €10 million will not be enough to sustain the project over the longer term.
Yesterday, the Government's appointee on the board of MediaLab Europe, Dr Danny O'Hare, urged the State to provide ongoing funding for the institute, which employs 70 researchers.
"The funding model is just not appropriate anymore as discretionary money becomes tight for companies," he said. "There needs to be a contribution from public sources, perhaps from Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland or the PRTLI fund."
Under MediaLab Europe's original business plan, the organisation was supposed to become self-financing by attracting corporate funding from firms. These companies would then be able to use the intellectual property created at the Irish laboratory and its sister MediaLab at MIT in Boston.
The BBC, Eircom and Orange are sponsors at MediaLab Europe but fewer firms than expected have funded the project.
Dr O'Hare, one of eight directors on a board that includes Mr Denis O'Brien and U2 guitarist the Edge, said maintaining MediaLab Europe in Dublin was important because it brought an international profile to the State as a hub for research and development.
Meanwhile, in the first interview with management at MediaLab Europe since the scale of its funding shortfall became known, Mr John Callinan, chief operating officer, said yesterday that the laboratory was confident it could raise funding to develop further.
He said its original business plan had been conceived at the height of the economic boom but born into a recession, which made it difficult to raise funding.
He said MediaLab Europe would introduce a new initiative this year, accepting graduate students as part of a degree programmes that would be accredited by MIT Boston.
