Government Launches TCD-UCD Innovation Alliance

The Taoiseach Mr. Brian Cowen T.D., along with the Tánaiste, Minister for Finance and Minister for Education and Science launched the TCD-UCD Innovation Alliance on Wednesday.

Speaking at the launch, the Taoiseach said "Ireland faces extremely challenging economic circumstances. The TCD-UCD Innovation Alliance is a radical departure and is a huge boost for the country in rising to our economic challenges. I believe it deserves, and will achieve, international impact and recognition."

The TCD-UCD Innovation Alliance involves the establishment of a new Innovation Academy and a Joint Venture in Enterprise Development.

The Taoiseach welcomed these initiatives saying "A new type of business-ready and innovative graduate will help Ireland remain an attractive destination for multinational investment and will greatly enhance the economic impact of Ireland's expenditure on research by helping to nurture ideas and assist in transforming them into viable companies and jobs for our citizens."

The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance both welcomed the Alliance.

The Tánaiste said "I particularly welcome the fundamental cultural change that must occur in both institutions and that is implicit and indeed explicit in this announcement today. A new culture that combines, as never before, the research talents of the two institutions as an engine for future enterprise, that sets out to create the innovators of the future, and supports new and existing industries."

The Government also announced today the establishment of an Innovation Taskforce to advance the development of Ireland as an international innovation hub and to assist in making the Smart Economy a reality. This Taskforce will be chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, Dermot McCarthy and involve participation from the public and private sectors. Its membership will be announced in the next few weeks.

The Innovation Taskforce will draw on international experience and successful national models such as the IFSC in order to develop Ireland as an International Innovation Development Hub. It will examine options to increase levels of innovation and the rates of commercialisation of research and development on a national basis with a view to accelerating the growth and scale-up of indigenous enterprise and to attract new knowledge-intensive direct investment. It will also identify specific policy measures that assist these goals.

The Taoiseach concluded by saying "I think we can be proud that Ireland's two largest and highest-ranked universities, Trinity College and UCD, have responded to the challenges faced by the Irish economy and to the initiatives and vision put forward in the Smart Economy Framework. Changing radically the way they work together, the merging of their activities and, most importantly, upping the ambition they have for how the university sector can contribute to economic renewal, are timely and welcome. I look forward to similar initiatives coming forward from across the country."