Senior executives from PA Consulting's international technology centre were in Dublin recently to brief large Irish businesses and Government bodies on how the company's services could assist them in turning research into marketable products. John Collinsreports.
It is a part of the PA business that is probably less well known - the company's broader technology consulting arm accounts for about 20 per cent of the overall business.
In the past, the company has taken on product development projects as diverse as the one-step "perfect pour" for Sheridan's Irish Coffee liquor to the development of an injection system which delivers tiny doses of complex medicines to the deep brain during surgery.
Given the massive increase in spending in pure research in areas from software to biotechnology, the PA executives had an interested audience.
The last National Development Plan spent €2.54 billion on research and innovation, while €3.2 billion is earmarked over the next six years. Ministerial statements about "moving up the value chain" are given some backing through initiatives such as Science Foundation Ireland and the strategy for science, technology and innovation, while last year, private-sector spending on R&D reached a new high at about €1.5 billion.
"There's a significant and successful economy [in the Republic] based around manufacturing, which continues to grow, thrive and attract inward investment," says Ian Rhodes, deputy head of PA's technology group on his Dublin visit.
"There's a very rich research base centred around the academic institutions, but there's a gulf between these two. What we are sensing now is that there is a real desire for the Irish economy to start filling in that gap."
While funding is being poured into research in the Republic at the moment, early-stage funding is needed to turn ventures into viable, standalone companies. This is something that has been prioritised by Enterprise Ireland in its current round of public-private partnership funding.
"One of the first steps is getting that entrepreneurial ecosystem going around the research organisations, so people can begin to spin out," says Mr Rhodes. "They shouldn't need vast sums of money at that point in time. It's that seed that flows into the angel, which flows into the early venture stage funding."
It's no coincidence that PA's technology centre is located in the university town of Cambridge. Mr Rhodes points out that the firm sponsors business plan competitions for local start-ups and consultants also act as mentors to those trying to turn their research into viable companies.
The firm's experience means that it can choose the technologies that are "ready for harvesting" and put the necessary supports in place to get them to market.
"We actually have the horsepower to accelerate these ideas through the development pipeline," says Mr Rhodes.
Colm Reilly, country lead for PA in Ireland, believes that this experience will resonate with Irish clients.
"The experience we have in other geographies allows us to shorten the lead times and that starts to release value faster," says Mr Reilly.
While some may balk at the idea of management consultants, who are often criticised for having meetings about meetings, in taking on such a role, PA has a better track record than most.
In the MCA Awards for management consultants last year, it was recognised for taking executive control of the corruption-ridden, state-owned electricity company in Georgia and turning it around.
