Research and Innovation are cornerstones of Ireland’s economic development policy. Significant State investment has been made over the past decade in science and technology resulting in a strong base of research expertise. Ireland’s Universities, Institutes of Technology (IoT), Technical Universities (TUs) and research organisations have a professional technology transfer infrastructure in place to work with existing companies and to support new enterprises to leverage the value in this investment.
The Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) and industrial liaison offices in Ireland’s HEIs and research organisations help companies and investors to:
The majority of people working in technology transfer in Ireland have a background working in companies, from multi-nationals to start-ups, and understand the issues that businesses face when seeking to innovate. Technology transfer teams have scientifically trained business managers and act as sector experts, able to translate the needs of business and to identify exciting new commercial propositions.
Technology Transfer Staff are skilled in:
- Finding academic partners for companies
- Commercial assessment
- Contract drafting and negotiation
- Protecting and managing intellectual property (IP)
- Company formation
- Company incubation