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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA |
Minister of State with responsibility for Science, Technology and Innovation Conor Lenihan claimed today €160 million has been generated this year from companies that grew out of Irish university-based research and claimed Ireland is on a par with the best research centres in the world. However, his claims on the number of companies created in the past five years contrasts with the target of 30 for the next five years, as recently confirmed by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).
Political spoofery in respect of the spending of public funds is easier than answering the serious questions about the strategy to be recognised as a "world class knowledge economy" by 2013.
This objective will not be met.
Last week, Irish Software Association (ISA) chairman Seán Baker, told a meeting of researchers and software executives, research needs to involve commercial input from a much earlier point in the process. He also warned academic researchers that overvaluing intellectual property inhibited commercialisation.
Dr Baker, a co-founder of Iona Technologies, called for closer collaboration between universities and industry, stressing the need to focus on commercially viable projects rather than “curiosity-based” research. There was a need to show a tangible return on funds invested by the Government in RD to avoid a “knee-jerk reaction in today’s economic climate” that might threaten future funding.
He criticised the State’s current approach to driving innovation. “We don’t have a good handle on a strategy for RD. You can’t point to one place and find someone who owns the strategy.”
SEE: Irish Economy: Achieving economic success requires more than investing in creativity
"More than 100 high value companies have emerged from third level institutions in the last three to five years," Lenihan said at the opening of an Enterprise Ireland event called 'Business opportunities from emerging companies' in Dublin's Guinness Storehouse today.
"These companies generated a combined turnover of over €160 million, of which, €137 million were exports," he said.
Lenihan continued: "This rate of company creation per €100 million of research expenditure is comparable with world renowned academic heavyweights such as MIT, Imperial College London, Cambridge and Oxford Universities. It is proof of practice that public and private investment in research and development is paying dividends".
The Guinness Storehouse event hosted by Enterprise Ireland involves up to 10 academic promoters of new technologies pitching their projects to the investment community.
In March, SFI said in its 2009-2013 strategy document Powering the Smart Economy, that it will attempt to push patent filings up to 500, over the next five years. It also expects to see 1,000 invention disclosures, 40 money-earning technology licences and 30 start-ups based on local research discoveries.
30 start-ups in the period 2009-2013 and at a normal 20% survival rate gives the impressive figure of 5.
So how many patents have MIT filed in the US in the past 5 years compared with Irish universities?
