News

26 September 2011

ICE kicked off its second year intake with a series of Innovation Recruitment Workshops held in Derry, Omagh, Sligo, Drogheda and Armagh during June, July and August 2011

'Innovation for Competitive Enterprises' or the ICE programme is a radically new way of enabling companies to add value and build innovation capacity and capability by developing new business models, products, services and processes. ICE is an intensive engaging in-company programme and is now open for applications from SMEs with 10 or more employees from the Border Counties, Northern Ireland and Western Scotland.

Managing the project in the Southern Border Counties, Lead Programme Manager Kieran Fegan, Dundalk Institute of Technology, says: "The core aim of the ICE project is to encourage the development of an innovation culture that is focussed on creating commercial reward and is supported by an inter-regional network. The project is also particularly relevant in the current economic climate as SMEs have tremendous potential to help lay the foundations for economic recovery."

In-house practical assistance is provided in the form of a dedicated ICE Innovation Learning Programme project team which works on-site with the SMEs to generate new ideas, develop those ideas, test and bring to market new products and services over the course of twelve months. The support provided is tailored to each individual business with access given to relevant industry experts.

As part of this tailored in-house approach the ICE team helps to develop the core skills and knowledge needed to develop an innovation culture within participant companies. The team can also identify licensing or technology transfer opportunities and encourage greater levels of mutually beneficial co-operation with potential sectoral partners and academic Institutes on a cross border cross regional basis.

"The support offered under the project touches upon all aspects of innovative product and service design from the initial ideas stage, straight through to development and market entry. We are also encouraging businesses to establish new and profitable partnerships possibly through technology transfer that will allow them to extend their market reach," said Kieran Fegan.

Approximately 30 companies, across the eligible area, are currently working through the first year of the programme. The ICE Partners ran a series of Free Innovation Information Half Day Workshops to raise awareness and recruit for the second year of the programme. The workshops were held in Derry, Omagh, Sligo, Drogheda and Armagh during June, July and August 2011.

There is still an opportunity to apply for the programme. Only SMEs (defined as businesses employing between 10 and 250 employees) which have moved past early stage development into the growth phase of their lifecycle can apply to the ICE project. Companies must be located in the Border Counties of the Republic, Northern Ireland or West of Scotland. The supported offered is free to all participating companies prepared to give of their time and commitment to the programme of activity.

The ICE project partners include the University of Ulster, Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT, University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University. The initiative received €2.49 Million from the European Union's INTERREG IVA Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body with match financial assistance from Scottish Enterprise. The Programme has the support of the three regional development agencies including Scottish Enterprise, Enterprise Ireland, and Invest Northern Ireland.

For further information on ICE visit www.iceprogramme.com and if you would like to find out more or would like to apply for the programme contact Kieran Fegan based at Dundalk Institute of Technology on +353 (0) 87 417 4681 (ice@dkit.ie), Sean McCaul based at the University of Ulster, Magee Campus on +44 (0) 79 043 05337 (ice@ulster.ac.uk) or Janet Hamilton based at Glasgow Caledonian University +44 (0) 77 027 29490 (ice@gcu.ac.uk)

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