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Networks are essential to drive and facilitate innovation and to develop a dynamic and indigenous knowledge-based economy on the island of Ireland, a conference has heard.

The key message delivered by business, industry and academic leaders who took part in InterTradeIreland’s 2010 All-island Innovation Conference was that building collaborative networks is essential to develop Ireland as an innovation island.

At the opening of the conference Dr Pat Frain, Director, NovaUCD said, “The development and expansion of innovation networks have a major role to play in economic renewal on the island of Ireland and in particular in developing Ireland’s emergence as an innovation island.”

During a keynote address at the conference, Professor Woody Powell, a leading economic sociologist at Stanford University, California outlined key factors required to build robust business clusters within an economy. Using the example of the biotech industry in the United States in 11 regions, he noted that the successful clusters were marked by the presence of local ‘anchor tenants’ who fostered the values of openness and transparency in the region and encouraged exploration, a diversity of types of organisations and a dense web of local relationships.
He added, “The implication for all industrial sectors is that successful clusters require the thorough mixing of people, ideas and resources across the university, business and financial communities. Having organisational diversity and catalytic organisations which provide the relational glue to hold clusters together and facilitate the transfer of best practices are also essential.” He concluded, “The development of true collaborative networks will be instrumental in the development of a robust and innovative knowledge-based economy on the island of Ireland.”

Dr Leonora Bishop, Manager, Strategic Investments and RD&I Policy, IDA Ireland said, “IDA Ireland has been driving our national innovation agenda through collaborative networks, high-tech clusters interacting with the latest academic thinking in order to increase our translational research capacity.” She added “This is precisely what Professor Powell has been advocating.”

The InterTradeIreland 2010 All-island Innovation Conference was organised by NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre and UCD’s Innovation Research Unit.

The conference formed part of the InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Programme which aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland. This Programme is organised by InterTradeIreland, Queen’s University Belfast, NovaUCD and the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change, NUI Galway.

 

Tags: InterTradeIreland