News Item

Innovation as a Service (IaaS project) is funded by Enterprise Ireland and led by ERNACT. The project focuses exclusively on developing a new service that will leverage, network and add value to the existing stock of innovation hubs and public technology providers.

Meet the public sector partners that are involved in the Innovation as a Service project:

  1. Enterprise Ireland: Will deliver their range of supports for manufacturing SMEs (with greater than 10 employees) targeted by the project, including supports for product, process and service development (incl. RD&I) and productivity and business process improvement.
  2. Northern and Western Regional Authority (NWRA): Will assist with delivering the expansion of the project to the wider Western region. The NWRA’s recent, ”Draft report: Expert advice and support on Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) in Ireland”, which will help shape the North & West region’s approach to Smart Specialisation and investment of EU ERDF funding in the 2021-2027 period, has identified the need to use “digital platforms” to reduce the impact of distance on R&I and to target available R&I capacity on the needs of SMEs, key objectives of the IaaS project.
  3. Údarás na Gaeltachta: Will deliver their range of supports to SMEs in the Gaeltacht areas, firstly in Donegal and then Mayo and Galway, where their growing network of GTeic branded-hubs will form a key access channel to SMEs and to the sustainability of the IaaS project.
  4. LEO & County Councils: Will deliver their range of supports to the Micro SMEs targeted by the project. This includes Lean Business Offer (LBO) and the Agile Innovation Fund. The County Councils can assist through promotion through their economic development strategies, including digital strategies, and support for business premises.
The IaaS project’s unique promise to entrepreneurs and senior business managers in manufacturing SMEs in the Border region is that they can have the same access to Ireland’s most advanced digital solutions, technology and knowhow from their own factory premises or local area as if they were located in Dublin, Galway or Cork.

Stay tuned for further information!

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Contact: Maixa Zabaleta
Email: maixa.zabaleta@ernact.eu