News
UK Business Secretary, Vince Cable visits Dublin City University
UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, The Rt Hon Vince Cable MP has visited Dublin City University this afternoon to learn about the university's model of enterprise, innovation and commercialisation.
During his visit to DCU Invent, the University's innovation and incubation centre, Secretary Cable and DCU President, Professor Brian MacCraith discussed the proposed development of a Dublin Belfast Innovation Corridor. The Secretary was also briefed on the activities underpinning DCU's vision as Ireland's University of Enterprise, including:
• DCU's new Cleantech Innovation Campus
• DCU Invent's successful track record in commercialising DCU technologies
• UStart Student Accelerator Programme - Ireland's first business start-up programme for third-level students
• Greenway Cleantech Cluster
• Social Enterprise at DCU
• Community Knowledge Exchange Programme
Secretary of State Cable said,
"Innovation is a key driver of economic growth, so it is has been interesting to hear how DCU is capitalising on its work. Spin-out companies like the ones I heard about today are a good way of turning inventions into jobs. It's also interesting to hear more about the plans for an innovation corridor between Belfast and Dublin and I look forward to exploring this opportunity. We too want to capitalise on our R&D back in the UK. That's why the British Government has today set out how £600 million will be spent to help develop key sectors like synthetic biology, agri-science, and energy."
Secretary Cable visited the labs of Sigmoid Pharma, a specialty pharma company headquartered at DCU Invent which uses its unique SmPill® oral drug delivery platform to develop new therapies for unmet needs in gastrointestinal disease, and Cycol® in development to treat moderate and ulcerative colitis. He also dropped in to the offices of Kantan Machine Translation Services, a DCU spin-out company which has licensed DCU technology to develop a cloud-based machine translation platform.
Professor MacCraith said,
"We are delighted to welcome Secretary of State Cable to DCU today. This is an important opportunity for the Secretary to experience first-hand the depth and range of DCU's engagement with enterprise and the real impact we are delivering both at home and abroad. Industry-academic collaboration has been a distinctive element of the DCU research profile and we welcome the Secretary's interest in our wide-ranging activities in this area.
The Eastern Corridor between Dublin and Belfast is, and will continue to be for the coming decades, the fastest growing centre of population and economic activity on the island of Ireland. This corridor offers massive potential to this island and DCU, in partnership with education, enterprise and cultural sectors, will play a pivotal role in its economic, social and cultural development."
