THE west coast of Ireland is far more familiar as a handsome backdrop for movies such as The Quiet Man and Ryan鈥檚 Daughter than as a site for advanced technology. Nonetheless, Galway Bay is home to a prestigious 鈧�12 million project based at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) which should transform the internet.
DERI is not alone. Ireland finally appears to be serious about the industries of the the 21st century, information technology and biotechnology. DERI is one of five Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSETs) funded by Science Foundation Ireland, which has 鈧�646 million to invest in research in the two flagship areas. As Ena Prosser, head of the biotech division of Enterprise Ireland, a government funding body, says: 鈥淲e have a huge base in both those areas so we are well placed 鈥� if we do it smartly.鈥�
DERI is the largest institute in the world developing the web. Based at the National University of Ireland, Galway, researchers plan to overcome one of the web鈥檚 main limitations. 鈥淭he web is aimed at human consumption, not for computers to understand,鈥� says Stefan Decker of DERI.
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The institute was set up in 2003 with 鈧�12 million of government funding and backing from Hewlett-Packard. The Galway researchers are working (with partners in Innsbruck, Austria) towards a 鈥渟emantic鈥� web, one that can 鈥渦nderstand鈥� the information it displays. Computer 鈥淧ost-it notes鈥� will label data according to type. The current web, for instance, displays NY 10021, Dublin 15 and SW1X 7XS as strings of letters and numbers, requiring a human to identify them as postal codes. The semantic web will label them as postal codes, allowing computers to refine their search, and to handle data from different sources without the need for a human interpreter. It will also act as a personal assistant, so that if you tell a search engine to book a hotel near Dublin鈥檚 Guinness brewery within a certain price range, it will 鈥渒now鈥� to find the address of the Guinness brewery first, then narrow the search to the hotels around that area, discard those in the wrong price category, and display only the hotels that match your requirements.
The hope that the semantic web will eventually be big business is prompting global research, and DERI is in a prime position. 鈥淎fter only a year, DERI now has 100 people from 16 countries,鈥� says Decker. Next year the institute is to host the International Semantic Web Conference.
A short walk from DERI through the university campus is the gleaming new National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science. The centre has taken a multidisciplinary approach since it was set up in 1999. 鈥淭he questions originate in biology but also have a physics, chemistry and engineering input,鈥� says Terry Smith, the centre鈥檚 director.
Galway鈥檚 other CSET, the Regenerative Medicine Institute, is based at the centre, and opened in 2003 with 鈧�19 million and a remit to study tissue repair and regeneration through gene and stem cell therapy. In keeping with CSET rules that industry partners contribute at least 20 per cent of the funds, the institute works with, among others, Medtronic Vascular in Galway and ChondroGene in Toronto, Canada.
The sizeable investment in the CSETs shows the importance government places on developing links between academia and industry, encouraging big companies to fund academic research. But at the other end of the spectrum, government funds are also supporting fledgling industry, as university spin-offs struggle to break free from their parent universities.
聯Ireland finally appears to be getting serious about the industries of the 21st century聰
A short distance from the historic campus of Trinity College Dublin is the university鈥檚 Enterprise Centre, which offers labs and offices at below-market rent plus access to venture capital and a link to the university鈥檚 research programmes 鈥� a few 鈥渂ridging鈥� years between academic shelter and the cruel world of the bottom line.
And when they do step into the real world, there is a strong industrial base to build on. Europe鈥檚 largest cluster of companies making medical devices lies between Galway and Limerick. Bell Labs, the telecoms giant, does 11 per cent of its research in Ireland, and big pharma鈥檚 labs are plentiful.
These multinationals come in part because of the young, mobile, well-educated workforce. Some 57 per cent of school students go on to further education, and Ireland ranks 12 of 30 OECD countries in terms of the 25 to 34-year-old age group with degrees. There are seven universities, and 13 institutes of technology offering more vocational training. The ability to tailor courses for local employers is one of Ireland鈥檚 strengths. Aidan Kane, an economist at the Centre for Innovation and Structural Change at the National University of Ireland says flexibility is key: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a small country, but the system can respond very quickly.鈥�
The Irish government plans to increase spending on research and development from 1.4 per cent of GNP in 2001 to 2.5 per cent by 2010. R&D spending is usually measured in GDP, which includes the profits of foreign companies based in the country and excludes the profits of indigenous companies working abroad. However, the dominance of multinationals, whose products account for 76 per cent of sales, means that GDP has less relevance, so the government often quotes figures as a proportion of GNP.
R&D expenditure of 2.5 per cent of GNP would leave Ireland below the European Union鈥檚 target of 3 per cent but put it well above the present EU average of 1.93 per cent. The 鈧�2.5 billion government commitment to R&D between 2000 and 2006, a five-fold increase from 1994-1999, almost makes the target look modest, and scientists in Ireland have good reason for optimism.
聯When people stop raising eyebrows about top researchers coming here, we鈥檒l know we鈥檙e winning聰
But money alone is not enough to build a successful industry, and Ireland still has to get round the poor reputation that goes with years of underfunding. 鈥淚rish scientists don鈥檛 have the impact of those from other countries because traditionally they were under-resourced,鈥� says Martin Hynes, director of the Embark Initiative, which supports young scientists in academia.鈥�
The sudden appearance of funding has itself created new challenges. The historic lack of money meant there was little need of a method for allocating it, nationally or at university level. Universities are now developing that structure 鈥� and spotting hot areas.
As spending on science increases, cooperation between government funding bodies is crucial. This June, for example, the post of chief science adviser was created 鈥� and Barry McSweeney appointed. 鈥淢cSweeney has extensive national and international experience. They would have to go a long way to find someone with his mix of experience,鈥� says Hynes.
The country has other challenges: it needs to retain its best graduates as well as attracting good candidates from abroad. Predictions suggest that there could be a shortfall of 3400 scientists by 2010. One of the seductive schemes to lure top graduates to Irish research is Embark鈥檚 postgraduate research scholarships, which fund EU graduates to study at any Irish institution.
IBM鈥檚 Extreme Blue internship has also been set up in Ireland. This funds teams of three science graduates and one business graduate to solve a real problem in 12 weeks, providing the students with useful experience and IBM with fresh brains and ideas.
But changing perceptions will take time. The goal is clear: 鈥淲hen people stop raising eyebrows when they hear a top researcher is coming to Ireland, we鈥檒l know we鈥檙e winning,鈥� says Prosser.
If science in Ireland is to keep its funding levels it will have to prove indispensable to the economy. Recent progress shows the country is serious. Mark Keane, director of the information and communications technology division of Science Foundation Ireland, puts it this way: 鈥淚f you had said to me two or three years ago that we could have done all this, I wouldn鈥檛 have believed you.鈥�
