www.tecnet.ie

TecNet was set up last year by the Council of Directors of the Institutes of Technology to increase links between colleges and industry. Jointly funded by Enterprise Ireland, its mission statement is "to enhance the research and development capacities of the Institutes of Technology through strategic networks in support of regional economic development". Its homepage puts it more plainly: "We provide Irish industry with Research & Development, Consulting Services and Technology Transfers by utilising the skills and facilities within the Institutes of Technology."

TecNet proposes to support the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector by helping firms to tap into the institutes' resources and specialised expertise. In case anyone in that sector is unconvinced of their need for access to the latest technology, the site provides the interesting statistic from a Forfas study that "Over 65% of Irish Enterprises introduced changes to their products or processes in the previous two years". If that doesn't make industry sit up and take notice of the institutes of technology, then this site should.

The news section provides access to relevant stories about technology, research and development and related areas. There are also links to sites and documents relevant to R&D and innovation within the institutes of technology, and other resources.

The research area features TecNet's currently available research opportunities. Submissions are invited from all interested parties, though preference will be given to members of the institutes of technology. This will be of major interest to anyone for whom the name Galileo means Global Positioning System and not a historical Italian. An intriguing aspect of this section is the invitation for research into a 3D virtual bicycle tour of Ireland. The end product is to incorporate a 3D film of a cycle trip to be shown on a screen which would surround the viewer.

The site is easy to navigate, though the icons which work from the homepage do not click through from any of the other pages. One thing that would make the site more interesting would be if it could include some long-form technology research for downloading.