September 2016 saw the formation of the first Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway cluster Applied IoT. Established in the area of Internet of Things, the cluster sought to bring together unique skills and expertise throughout the network directly to Irish Business. Since then another two clusters have joined the Technology Gateway family, in the areas of Engineering, Materials and Design (EMD Ireland) and Food and Beverage Technologies (Irish Food Tech).
All three clusters work to consolidate the considerable amount of expertise and technologies available throughout the network and deliver market lead innovation solutions in a collaborative and responsive fashion. Providing many benefits for the business community such as;
- a ready-made R&D infrastructure applied to industry problems of all sizes,
- access to 300+ researchers and engineers
- an opportunity to capitalise on the research and engineering expertise of multiple centres and Institutes of Technologies
- access to R&D advice, supports and funding from Enterprise Ireland.
For Irish companies of all sizes, that may currently lack the required resources, funding and/or expertise to explore an innovation problem or project, the clusters are often their first port of call.
What funding options are available?
There are a variety of different types of funding available, to suit all types and sizes of project. We offer Industry support in the form of various Enterprise Ireland funding initiatives such as Innovation Vouchers, Feasibility Studies, Innovation Partnerships and the Agile innovation Fund. You can also access any gateway cluster by direct consultancy. You can access more information on funding options here.
How do I get in contact with the clusters?
The clusters have a dedicated support office and team based in Dublin to help with your companies’ individual needs. If you have an idea for a new product, service or process or are experiencing difficulties with an existing process, get in touch with us to see how we can assist you in developing an innovative solution.
But don’t just take our word for it, check out below how these Irish companies benefited from cluster collaboration.
The Applied IoT Cluster and GrazeBot Ltd.
Grazebot Ltd. in collaboration with IMaR and COMAND Technology Gateways have developed ‘Freshgraze’, an automated moving fence system which allocates fresh grass to grazing animals on a continual basis at a rate that ensures the entire sward is consumed before the fence moves again. COMAND have assisted GrazeBot in the development of a software platform to provide grassland mapping which controls feed rate and provides overall motion directives to the moving fence, while IMaR worked with GrazeBot Ltd. on the development of the moving fence electronic hardware and remote communications. GrazeBot intend to continue working with both Gateways through Enterprise Ireland funding mechanisms to bring this AgriTech solution to market within 12 months.
The EMD Ireland cluster and Accucolour Ltd.
Accucolour Ltd. in association with both the Applied Polymer Technologies (APT) and CREST Technology Gateway’s developed liquid additives for a PET injection moulding process. The CREST Gateway was engaged with the formulations development where colourants were successfully suspended into a liquid carrier which allowed the APT Gateway to carry out processing trials to validate the new technology. Accucolour Ltd. were seeking to influence the melting/processing of P.E.T in such a manner as to reduce energy input/increase output standardisation and reduce carbon footprint. As a consequence, follow on projects with both gateways will look at the emerging area of homogenisation of recycled PET for the efficient production of consumer-ready PET bottle products. This work will ultimately enable Closed Loop Recycling.
For more information about the clusters, check out test.technologygateway.ie. If you have any further questions, are unsure about eligibility or require further advice you can simply get in touch with us. You can also follow us on Twitter @EITechGateway @aiotgroup, @emdcluster and @irishfoodtech and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest industry and cluster news.