The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has called for more collaboration between private industry and universities if Europe is to catch up with the US on research and development.
Speaking at the opening of NUI Galway's new Digital Enterprise Research Institute yesterday, Ms Harney expressed concern at a recent report that 40 per cent of research and development funding by European companies had gone to North America.
Incentives may have to be given to ensure that there is more collaboration between companies and universities in the European Union, she said. She cited the co-operation between Hewlett Packard and NUIG on establishing the new institute as an example of such collaboration.
The Tánaiste said she did not believe the independence of universities would be compromised by support from private business. "It is the only way to ensure that emerging knowledge can be transferred to products and services," she told The Irish Times.
Globally, some two-thirds of research and development was funded by private industry and one-third by governments, and collaboration appeared to be the best option for governments in terms of "value".
However, it was important to avoid proprietary ownership of such research involving universities and to ensure that new information was not "exclusive" to one sponsor, she added.
The new research centre at NUIG has received €12 million in funding from Science Foundation Ireland as part of the Government-led programme to develop a knowledge-based economy.
The institute is one of Science Foundation Ireland's first centres for science, engineering and technology or "Csets", and one of two based at NUIG which it has agreed to fund. The second centre being supported is the regenerative medicine institute at the college's centre for biomedical engineering and science, which has been given €15 million from Science Foundation Ireland.
The Digital Enterprise Research Institute will eventually involve more than 70 full-time researchers from both NUIG and Hewlett Packard Galway on research into the "semantic web". Prof Dieter Fensel, director of the institute, who has worked with Dr Chris Bussler on establishing the new centre, said this new concept was "as revolutionary as the original development of the web itself".
Although still in its infancy, research indicated that the semantic web would "revolutionise the way we do business by delivering global cost savings and efficiencies", Prof Fensel said. "It is estimated that the time spent using web technology will be dramatically reduced within the next five years, resulting in significantly lower costs for users.
"It will also deliver greater choice and better pricing structures for consumers and business," he said.
"For example, when making an inquiry into the purchase of a corporate business trip, the purchaser will not only get information on the best deal but also the best deal on all associated services such as car hire, accommodation, all at the touch of a button."
Mr Rory O'Connor, managing director of Hewlett Packard Galway, described the semantic web as a "vision for the future of the Internet".