Applicants to State’s €500m disruptive tech fund unsure of its focus

Potential applicants for the State’s €500 million Disruptive Technologies Innovation fund have been unsure of its focus, with some unclear whether it is intended for “radical innovations”, or those that might upset traditional ways of doing business, a review has found.

The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, which runs the fund with support from Enterprise Ireland, has been urged to be clearer in outlining the types of innovations it is willing to back via the fund. The review warns that failing to do this could impact on the number and type of applications being made for funding.

“The fund may have to consider if there is more focus on the ‘novel’ aspect of the technology or the ‘disruptive’ element and to make this clearer in the programme guidance,”the review authors said.

“While the projects funded represent significant innovations and have the potential for large economic benefits, there may need to be increased clarity on what is meant by ‘disruptive technology’ in the guidance to applicants and assessors,” they added.

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The review was carried out by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service.

Project Ireland

The Disruptive Technologies Innovation fund, which was established in 2018 under Project Ireland 2040, is aimed at exploiting research to deliver new technologies and solutions. As of now, some €140 million in funding has been provided to 47 projects with up to €500 million available over a ten-year period.

Overall, 159 project partners have received approval for funding to date, including 63 SMEs. Funding has primarily been awarded to projects focused on health and wellbeing and ICT.

“Disruptive technology” is broadly defined as technology which has the potential to very significantly alter markets and their functioning and significantly alter the way that businesses operate. While it involves a new product or process, it can also involve the emergence of a new business model. Radical innovation meanwhile is seen as typically involving a major change in technology, but one that usually reinforces the existing model.

The rationale for a publicly funded programme for such technology is that it reduces risks for participating companies, thereby encouraging private co-investment and making it more likely they will be able to bring solutions to market.

Scale

The review said the scale of the projects funded and the focus on collaboration has ensured the fund is sufficiently different from other State supports. It also welcomed the fund’s requirement that SMEs be part of any consortium applying for funding.

The review suggests that consideration could be given to whether challenge-based funding or more sectoral-focused calls could be made to develop applications from sectors not sufficiently represented so far.