An OECD report concludes that Irish industry will have to become more innovative to remain competitive, writes Colm Ward.

Anyone who uses the internet regularly knows the frustration that is caused by slow, unreliable internet connections. But wireless broadband technology could soon make such frustration a thing of the past.

In what is the first project of its kind in the Republic, a research group, led by Dr Sean McGrath at the University of Limerick, is developing a remote wireless broadband access network on the university campus.

This will allow users to access the internet from anywhere on campus without having to connect their laptops to phone sockets. The extra capacity associated with the broadband network mens the speed of the connection will be considerably faster than at present.

The project, a collaboration between the University of Limerick, University College Cork, Mayo County Council, O2, Ericsson, Parthus and Comnitel, is being developed under the Technology Transfer Initiative (TTI) with funding of €263,000 from Enterprise Ireland.

Established in September 2001 as a joint initiative between the University of Limerick, NUI Galway and University College Cork, the TTI assists companies in the west, midwest and south-west to access the research resources of the three universities.

The TTI is a "proactive programme" that aims to give local companies the opportunity to access the universities' research and development (R&D) facilities, according to Ms Andrea Deverell, programme manager at the University of Limerick.

She describes it as a "collaborative alliance" designed to "harness the resources of the three universities and make them available to indigenous companies".

"We are trying to push them as hard as we can to get them to be as innovative as possible," she says.

The days of university researchers working in ivory towers are well over, according to Mr Paul Dillon, director of the TTI at the University of Limerick. The universities are realising that they must develop links with local industry.

Under the National Development Plan (NDP), Enterprise Ireland will provide €1.12 million over the three-year lifespan of the initiative, which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. A total of 19 collaborative projects continue in the areas of information and communication technology (ICT), engineering, food and biomedical/healthcare.

Enterprise Ireland's Innovation Partnership initiative was established to assist indigenous industry in R&D by encouraging them to form partnerships with third-level institutions.

"Our main aim is to develop indigenous industry and industry generally, and part of the way that companies can develop their market share is to invest in R&D," says Mr Pat O'Brien, programme manager for the initiative.

Other projects that have been funded under the scheme include the development of a robot to debone meat and a partnership between Carlow Institute of Technology, Maxol and CB Biofuels to develop a fuel from biomass such as grass and compost.

The Innovation Partnership is just one of several initiatives to increase R&D in Ireland.

A report released earlier this year by Forfás, the agency responsible for developing enterprise, science and technology, found that the Republic spent just 1 per cent of gross national product (GNP) on R&D in 1999, compared to an EU average of 1.2 per cent and an average of 1.5 per cent among member-states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The report concluded that Irish industry would have to become more innovative in order to remain competitive in the global market.

"The future success of the manufacturing and internationally traded service sectors in Ireland needs to be driven by innovation, so that our competitiveness can be less reliant on cost and tax factors. Ireland must work towards increasing the number of firms spending significant amounts on R&D and increasing the sophistication of R&D undertaken," said Mr Martin Cronin, Forfás chief executive.

A total of €7.3 billion has been designated to develop the productive sector under the NDP for the period 2000 to 2006. Of this, 48 per cent, or €3.5 billion, is to be channelled into research, technological development and innovation.

In its pre-Budget submission, ICT Ireland, the IBEC body that represents firms in information and communications technology, also recognises the importance of R&D. It calls for the introduction of a tax incentive to encourage companies to engage in R&D. Links between businesses and third-level colleges should also be strengthened. "Work has to be done on the relationship between the industrial sector and the third-level institutions," says Mr Brendan Butler, director of ICT Ireland.

Co-operation in research would allow Ireland to increase its expertise, or intellectual capital, which would make indigenous Irish companies more competitive internationally, as well as encouraging foreign companies to invest here.

The ICT and biotechnology sectors have been identified by the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) as priorities for R&D funding.

By providing research funding in these areas, SFI hopes to create a "critical mass" of expertise that will establish Ireland as a base for research.

Under the NDP, €635 million has been allocated to the SFI, of which more than €200 million will have been paid out in research grants by the end of the year.

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