The successor to the failed MediaLab Europe in Dublin’s Liberties district, the National Digital Research Centre, has issued a €2m call for proposals for a range of research projects covering healthcare, education, environment and entertainment projects.
The organisation, which is backed to the tune of €25m by the Irish Government, is seeking “expressions of interest” from commercial enterprises, social/user groups and third level institutions that may lead to collaborative translational research project proposals.
The NDRC describes its approach as highly practical with supports “all under one roof”. Its format includes translational research support, commercialisation training programmes, access to stakeholders and investment.
“As part of our seeding activities, we are currently seeking to engage with parties that can generate compelling translational research proposals with the objective of successful project outcomes in about a two-year period”, said Ben Hurley, CEO of the NDRC.
“We believe there are many ideas that are ideally suited to collaboration at the penultimate stage of research in digital technologies that occurs just prior to product or service development.
“We are keen to identify opportunities for multi-party, multi-disciplinary, collaborative, impact-focused research, and hope to see these come to fruition in the coming months”, Hurley added.
The NDRC is the Government’s replacement to the disastrous MediaLab Europe which cost the exchequer around €50m and collapsed amidst the dotcom downturn in 2002.
It will be run as an independent company and is based on a consortium of third level institutions that successfully tendered for the job.
By John Kennedy
