National Digital Research Centre - from idea to income

Report outlines NDRC’s critical role in aiding Irish research projects navigate “the valley of death” between the research laboratory & commercial success

Communications Minister Eamon Ryan today launched the first annual report of NDRC (National Digital Research Centre).  NDRC is the sole collaboration centre in the country where all research activities have a clear commercial objective, with industry expertise directly engaged with each project.

With investment to date of €12million, and a total of €3.25 million raised from non Exchequer funding sources in a challenging economic environment, NDRC is cultivating a stable of 17 high value digital projects. Uniquely, there are 14 commercial partners in place to accelerate their journey to the marketplace, as well as direct links with Irish VC companies. Some of the “smart projects” to emerge include a device for remote monitoring of heart health, a platform that checks the trustworthiness of web content and software that will deliver enhanced social networking to your mobile. NDRC will soon be announcing its next project sourcing activity under its second phase of investment, with details available from www.ndrc.ie.

Launching the 2009 Annual Report, Minister Ryan said: “Ireland’s digital sector is growing from strength to strength. Over the next ten years, the majority of our exports will be digitally-traded – as a small, open economy, this will be crucial in guaranteeing future prosperity.

The National Digital Research Centre promotes innovation and creation in our digital sector and Government will continue in its support for this vital service. ”

Commenting on their first full year of project operations, Mr. Ben Hurley, CEO said: “We’ve seen unprecedented levels of interest in our first round of open tenders and along with our industry partners have been hugely impressed with the scale, ambition and quality of the entrepreneurs out there“.

He continued: “Ireland has a highly innovative, well educated workforce that is very active in the internet & mobile space, which is the exact breeding ground for great digital ideas. What has been seriously lacking is the delivery mechanism to turn those research ideas into investable products and that’s where NDRC and its focus on collaborations with industry players comes in. As a participant in this delivery process, we act as the bridge across this internationally recognised “valley of death” between the lab and the marketplace”.

NDRC’s role as partner and facilitator was recently validated when one of its 17 projects “Local Social”, a partnership between NDRC, Rococco Software Ltd and University College Dublin, won a major award from the Irish Software Association, proving that the model of collaboration the NDRC is pursuing between industry partners and researchers is on track to deliver marketplace success and ultimately indigenous job creation. Local Social is a platform for delivering enhanced social networking on your mobile and is already attracting interest internationally.

NDRC Board member Mr. Jean-Marc Soustre, Director of Multi Media in Ericsson said: “The involvement with NDRC is a two-way street in that our global perspective brings a roadmap of experience in digital media to the table, while Ericsson has a unique chance to understand the opportunities, the market direction and the potential interests the company may leverage in Ireland”.

Issued by:

Rachel Graham, Lighthouse Agency Ltd. 086 8488092

Note to Editor:

Founded by a consortium of third level institutions with the support of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, NDRC operates as an independent, not-for-profit centre of excellence with a focus on accelerating late stage digital research into marketplace success. Board members include representatives from Microsoft, Ericsson, Raglan Capital, Enterprise Ireland, the five consortium partners (DCU, NCAD, IADT, TCD, UCD) and DIT.

NDRC’s current project areas in the 2008 – 2009 period include healthcare, entertainment, education and environment. It has over 100 people engaged in late stage applied research, 17 collaborative projects in train, with 14 commercial partners.

Working with industry, research institutions & investors, NDRC analyses and assesses new and emerging technologies, market need and opportunities within the economy’s most important sectors. Its teams include product management, business development, engineers, content and domain specialists, designers and expert researchers, as well as commercial experts.

For industry, NDRC provides a trusted partner for the pursuit of higher risk but potentially game changing research initiatives. For academic partners, the NDRC is an active, participatory collaborator that increases the prospects for success in the process of commercialisation.For the investment community, NDRC provides de-risked investment opportunities through product validation and business planning.