Leading business and industry leaders are among the speakers who will take part in the forthcoming InterTradeIreland 2010 Innovation Conference. Entitled, Building Collaborative Networks for Innovation, the conference will take place in University College Dublin on 28-29 June next.

Day 1 (June 28) will focus on the theme of Building Collaborative Networks for Innovation in a Knowledge Economy. It will blend contemporary thinking on collaborative networks with lessons learnt from key stakeholders. 

An expert panel, chaired by Bernie Cullinan, CEO, Clarigen, will deliver presentations on this theme and will participate in a questions and answers session. Panel members include Barry O’Leary, CEO, IDA Ireland, Martin Curley, Director, Intel Labs Europe, Gina Quin, CEO, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, John O’Dea, CEO, Crospon, Hubert Henry, Director of Innovation, Bord na Móna and Peter FitzGerald, founder and MD, Randox Laboratories.

Barry O'Leary, CEO, IDA Ireland

The development and expansion of innovation networks have a major role to play in sustaining economic renewal on the island of Ireland. In particular they are key in developing Ireland’s emergence as an ‘innovation island’ which is recognised as a global innovation hub. The objective of the conference is to provide a view from leading stakeholders and academic experts on the benefits and successes of collaborative networks as drivers and facilitators of innovation. 

Damini Kumar, an award winning designer, and the Director of Design and Creativity at NUI Maynooth will also be a guest speaker on Day 1 of the conference. Last year the European Commission appointed her a European Ambassador for Creativity and Innovation to foster the principles and value of innovation and creativity at all levels of European society.

Day 2 (June 29) will focus on Academic Reflections and Future Challenges and will bring together academic researchers from the around Ireland and internationally. These speakers will explore and examine current research on the topic of innovation networks including the role that multi-national companies have to play in the development of such networks. 

Professor Woody Powell, Stanford University, California will be the keynote speaker at both days of the conference. His addresses will draw upon his research on the processes through which knowledge is transferred across organisations and the role that networks have in facilitating or hindering innovation.

It is envisaged that the findings of the conference will assist in strengthening innovation studies in Ireland and will contribute to relevant strategy and policy formation and innovation best practice.

The innovation conference is being organised by NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre and UCD's Innovation Research Unit. The conference forms part of the InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Programme which aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland. This Programme is organised by InterTradeIreland, Queen’s University Belfast, NovaUCD and the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change, NUI Galway.

Conference Details

Title: Building Collaborative Networks for Innovation

Dates: 28-29 June 2010

Location: UCD’s William Jefferson Clinton Auditorium, UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4.

Click here for further details and online registration.

The conference which is free to attend. All are welcome to attend on either or both days of the conference.

ENDS

3 June 2010

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712.

Editor’s Notes

The InterTradeIreland All-Island Innovation Programme aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland by bringing international expertise in innovation to Queen’s University Belfast, University College Dublin and NUI Galway.  

Best international practice in various aspects of innovation is shared via an annual series of lectures, an all-island conference and master classes aimed at specific audiences such as senior business leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers and innovation researchers. These events will be led by a Chair of Innovation who will be a world-renowned expert in an aspect of innovation.

The All-Island Innovation Programme is complemented by a Community of Researchers working on innovation across the island. The aim of this community is to adequately study innovation in several academic disciplines over a longitudinal period, to progress the development of an all-island knowledge economy and to align best practice in innovation research with current policy thinking and inform future policy-making and its implementation. The 3-year initiative is a partnership between InterTradeIreland, Queen’s University Belfast, NovaUCD and the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change, NUI Galway.   

NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, is the hub of innovation and knowledge transfer activities at University College Dublin. NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.