forefront of nanotechnology and micro-electronics
are developing applications in Life Sciences. Even
building materials are being embedded with sensors
connected to wireless networks to create smart
buildings. These innovations require an approach
to project development that stretches across firms in
previously unrelated sectors. The IDA is already a
pioneer in bringing such projects to fruition”.
Life Sciences, a sector in which Ireland has
excelled and now boasts a most proficient research,
development and commercialisation base, has seen
first-hand the benefits of convergence.
The convergence of micro-electronics and the
medical device industry is an ideal case with which
to illustrate the point. “Creganna-Tactx Medical”
is a company that serves as a fitting example. First
established in 1980 to provide services to the microelectronics industry, the company utilised its skillset to enter the field of medical device technology.
Based in Galway, “Creganna-Tactx Medical” is now
one of the world’s top ten providers of technologies
and services to minimally invasive medical device
companies.
There are also a multitude of examples whereby
multinational companies resident in Ireland,
through the social and business networks of
their executives, engage individuals, indigenous
companies and even other multinational firms
directly to create new products and services. The
ICT sector has taken a lead in this area, with
Google’s “Code Jam” project and Facebook’s
“Developer Garage” programme serving as two
pertinent examples.
For the past five years the Biomedical Diagnostics
Institute (BDI) SFI CSET has been working on
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the development of technologies which will enable
cost effective early diagnosis of illnesses such as
cancer, meningitis and cardiovascular disease and is
now moving on to translate these novel diagnostic
devices into clinical and commercial reality. The
main academic partners are Dublin City University,
National University of Ireland, Galway, Royal
College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College
Dublin, and the Tyndall National Institute, Cork.
The six companies involved are Analog Devices
Inc, Becton Dickinson and Co, Biosurfit S.A.,
Inverness Medical Innovations Inc, J&J OrthoClinical Diagnostics, and Millipore. BDI is seeking
to develop what might be termed smart one-stopdiagnostic-shops for use at point of care or near
point of care by healthcare professionals. The
concept is of a single, easy to use device which will
take the sample, perform the test and deliver the
result in what is effectively a single action.
2) The Test Bed Model
Ireland was the first country in Europe to introduce
a Government-levy on plastic bags, thus sparking
a green revolution in supermarkets throughout
the rest of the continent. Ireland was also the first
country to introduce a smoking-ban in workplaces,
another pioneering initiative which proved to be a
success that was subsequently replicated throughout
the EU.
This rubric of Ireland as a test bed is also readily
transferable and every bit as applicable to the
commercialisation of new technologies. Ireland’s
size and infrastructure lends itself incredibly well to
proof of concept when it comes to rolling
out new ideas.