SMEs pitch their technologies at SmartOcean Innovation Exchange in Galway today

3 Jul 2012

This morning in Galway at the SmartOcean Innovation Exchange, which is taking place as part of the Volvo Ocean Race Global Village, 22 SMEs – both Irish and international – are showcasing technologies they are developing to harness Ireland’s marine and ocean resources.

The SMEs are making their presentations from 9am to 1pm at the Marine Pavilion at the Volvo Ocean Race Global Village. Then, one company will be selected as the SmartBay Marine Innovator of the Year.

Four other companies will also be recognised by the four multinational companies that are part of the SmartOcean Cluster – IBM, Intel, Veolia and Microsoft.

Irish companies that are vying to win awards today for technological innovations around the marine include Eire Composites Teo, Episensor, Wavebob and TechWorks Marine. Meanwhile, international companies include Critical Software from Portugal and Oceanic Consulting from Canada.

The SmartOcean Cluster was launched in 2010. Its goal is to harness Ireland’s natural marine resources and specialist expertise in marine science and ICT. The ultimate aim is to establish Ireland as a leader in the development of high-value products and services for the global marine sector.

Yesterday, there was a SmartOcean workshop in Galway on getting more from Ireland’s marine resources through technology. The aim of the event was to get SMEs, multinationals and researchers together to identify challenges in aquaculture, security and logistics, and renewable energy sectors that require innovative technology solutions. The idea is to create an open platform so the research community and industry can work together to develop collaborative projects to address those challenges. 

Ocean image via Shutterstock

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com