The government has invited expressions of interest among businesses and research partners for the €500 million Disruptive Technologies Innovation (DTI) Fund.
Staying ahead of the curve
Inviting expressions of interest for the fund, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys said: “This fund is not about business as usual. We’re living in the technological revolution, and we’re looking for proposals for truly game-changing technologies. The world around us is changing and we can’t afford to stand still. The fund is about ensuring that Ireland can stay ahead of the curve.
“We’re looking for ideas in areas like robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, advanced manufacturing and smart and sustainable food production. We’re lucky in Ireland to have companies, both multinational and indigenous, that are doing very exciting things in technology. We also have top-class researchers so we want to see proposals that involve collaboration between industry, research bodies and the public sector.”
Minister Halligan said that the new fund will maximise the return on Ireland’s investments in research over recent years. “This will enable us to address a number of actions contained in Innovation 2020, our strategy for research and development, science and technology.
Healthcare, energy efficiency and sustainable agriculture
“Our investment through the DTI fund will help us to create and safeguard the jobs of the future. It will allow us to take research that is being performed in both the private and public sectors in such areas as healthcare, energy efficiency and sustainable agriculture and develop new solutions from that research, helping to build an ecosystem around disruptive technology and innovation and creating new markets for our enterprise sector.”
The discussions also focused on regional investment, such as the €60 million Regional Enterprise Development Fund, which backs initiatives that are led from the regions, and how businesses are responding to and preparing for Brexit.
“The government is focused on ensuring that the business sector is prepared and resilient to face the challenges of Brexit and that we sustain the important progress made in developing the island economy”, Minister Breen said.
Ensure that Ireland continues to be a digital hotspot
“In addition, the DTI fund will ensure that Ireland continues to be a digital hotspot and that we stay at the forefront in exciting new areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and the bio-economy.”
Minister Humphreys concluded: “Project Ireland 2040 recognises that economic and social progress go hand in hand and are the engines that drive our economy. Through my department’s investments outlined today, businesses and communities, wherever they may be, now have the platform to build on their own unique strengths and be part of a dynamic and exciting modern Ireland.”
Details about the first call for the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund are now available on the website of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, and via its agencies: Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland.
Application process
All interested businesses and research performing organisations should visit
www.dbei.gov.ie/DTIF for information on the application process and full information on the Fund. Themes include robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, health and wellbeing, advanced and smart manufacturing and smart and sustainable food production and processing.
Projects must be collaborative in nature, involving a number of partners working together. There will also be a focus on projects that can be commercialised, meaning they can have a real impact on the jobs of the future. Announcements on the first successful projects to be funded in 2019 will be made by end 2018. SME participation in each collaboration is an essential requirement in order to receive funding from the DTIF.