CIRCA Group, with 360IP (Singapore), a subsidiary of Battelle Corp (USA), and Envision (Switzerland) has won a contract to support the establishment of a Centralized Innovation and Technology Transfer Office (CITTO) in the United Arab Emirates. The client is the Technology Development Committee in Abu Dhabi.   CITTO will offer a wider range of services, including patent and commercialization support. The project will involve extensive liaison with local stakeholders to devise suitable processes and structures for the planned organisation. 

CIRCA was commissioned to conduct an evaluation of the Competitive Start Fund.  This Enterprise Ireland programme is designed "to accelerate the growth of start-up companies that have the capability to succeed in global markets".  It provides funding of €50K to new start-up companies for defined activities.   Our evaluation involved an on-line survey  of ~ 350 successful and unsuccessful applicants;   interviews with companies,  mentors,  venture funders and other intermediaries;  and review of the application process.   Further information on the fund is available here.

CIRCA has been commissioned by Athlone Institute of Technology to support the development of a Technology Core Facility which will offer R&D and other technical services to regional companies and other RTD partners. This project is directly linked to the EU-funded Sharebiotech project of which AIT is a founder partner.   The CIRCA task is to review the internal expertise, facilities and infrastructure of AIT in the biotechnology research area and to propose a model for a facility which will meet the needs of regional and national companies, and which will also offer its services within the EU through the Sharebiotech network.  

CIRCA is one of a consortium of experts commissioned to provide support to the Bulgarian Ministry of Economics, Energy & Tourism regarding the establishment of an S&T park in Sophia.    This project is managed through the EU Jaspers Programme which provides advice to 12 Central and Eastern EU Member States and Croatia during project preparation to help improve the quality of the major projects to be submitted for grant financing under the Structural and Cohesion Funds.

 Dr Jim Ryan of CIRCA supported the Health Research Board in the development of a national policy on Biobanking.   The task of developing a ‘National Biobanking Initiative’ was defined in the Health Research Action Plan published by the Irish Dept of Health and Children.  This task was implemented by a group appointed by the Health Research Board and chaired by the CEO Enda Connolly.   The purpose is to establish the biobank infrastructure required by Irish researchers and enterprise;    to develop an implementation plan and to establish the resource requirement.     A draft plan has been prepared following extensive consultation with all stakeholders,  and consideration of a wide range of operational,  legal and other issues.  The plan will involve the biobank becoming a component of the National Clinical Research Framework, which is being developed in parallel.     

 CIRCA Group was commissioned by Forfás to conduct an Evaluation of the Intellectual Property Assistance Scheme (IPAS) which was operated by Enterprise Ireland and provided patent advice, and also provided funding for patent submission.  The  scheme consisted of two separate elements:   (a) basic advice for companies and inventors on the patent process  and on the patentability of specific inventions ;  and (b)  funding for  patent submissions from  HE Institutions. The evaluation process involved extensive desk research on the scheme files and process;   focus groups with patent agents, and with HE personnel;    and on-line and telephone surveys with successful and unsuccessful applicants to the scheme.    The CIRCA team for the project  included Jürgen Streicher of the Austrian Institute for SME Research who has extensive international experience in reviewing similar schemes in a variety of countries.  

During 2011 a national research prioritisation exercise was conducted in Ireland to identify up to 20 target areas on which the Irish Government should focus its allocation of public funding for research and development over the next five years.  A high-level  ‘Research Prioritisation Steering Group’ was appointed to undertake this task.   The Steering Group was asked to focus on ‘areas that will yield the best return for taxpayers' investment in research and ultimately, create high quality jobs’.   The Steering Group established 4 sub-groups to review the opportunities and potential  within different sectors.  Consultants were appointed to support each of these sub-Groups.  CIRCA teams were appointed to support two of these groups:  

• Brendan Wafer and Pat Lawlor were appointed as consultants to the Process Engineering sub-group,  
• Jim Ryan and Ena Walsh were appointed to support the sub-group on ‘Health, Ageing and Well-being’.  
  

CIRCA has completed a Strategic Review of the Guinness Enterprise Centre on behalf of Diageo and Enterprise Ireland.   The Guinness Enterprise Centre is located close to the Guinness Storehouse off Thomas Street, Dublin and houses 60+ companies in a purpose-built facility of  6,000 square metres which includes four conference rooms, a café and reception area.    The review was commissioned to assess future options for the centre in the light of increasing competition from private rented accommodation in the area, and the general economic downturn.  It included an assessment of the current role of the centre as an incubator space, the need for differentiation from other local enterprise space, and other elements of its operational future.    The project included reviews of current operational activities, on-line surveys of tenants and potential tenants, and extensive consultation with organisations involved in provision of support for start-ups and existing companies in the Dublin region.    The CIRCA team for the project included Prof. John Allen,  who has extensive experience in operation of incubators and science parks and has twice served as chair of the UK Science Parks Association.  

CIRCA is conducting a project on behalf of the Health Research Board (HRB) and Science Foundation Ireland to assess the scope and nature of Irish research activities of relevance to neurodegenerative disease and to define national priorities in this field.  The overall purpose is to ensure effective Irish participation in a new EU R&D initiative entitled Joint Programming which will involve a coordinated approach to R&D activities in neurodegenerative disease among all EU countries.    The Irish Strategic Research Agenda will pull together the existing national R&D activity within a coordinated national programme which is relevant to the EU-wide activities, but also relevant to national needs and expertise.   

 CIRCA has completed an interim review of the Enterprise Innovation Networks Programme (EIN) which was launched in May 2008 as one of the programmes designed to achieve the SSTI vision .. ‘to strengthen the RTDI base of the enterprise sector’.   The key elements  defined in the  SSTI  strategy for enhancing enterprise  are:  “i) raising awareness and increasing the number of firms doing R&D, ii) improving soft supports to develop technology strategies in firms, iii) achieving step in¬creases in quality and quantity of R&D activity, iv) building in company technology capability, v) increasing inter-company and industry-HEI collaboration … “.    The Enterprise Innovation Networks (EIN) programme takes advantage of the fact that there are industry organisations already in existence whose objectives are, at least partly, consistent with these goals.  The EIN assists these industry groups to promote and support R&D performance by their member companies.    The study involved consultation with three groups supported by the programme:  Construction Industry Technology Alliance (CITA);   Industry R&D Group;  and the Irish Software Innovation Network (ISIN). 

CIRCA supported a national project to examine the critical factors impacting on the environment for research and development (R&D) in both foreign owned and indigenous companies. The enterprise policy system in Ireland recognises that a key determinant of future economic well-being will be success in stimulating business to do more R&D. This study focused on identifying barriers and incentives external to the company that can be addressed through changes in enterprise policy, rather than on internal company barriers to R&D. The overarching objectives of this study were

• To identify a small number of critically important factors impacting on the environment for R&D; and
• To identify a small number of sector-specific factors that impact on the environment for R&D; and
• To formulate actionable recommendations to improve the quantity and quality of R&D amongst companies in Ireland.

The report was published by the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation and is available

• Visits to 10 centres to assess facilties and staffing arrangements in place
• Review of R&D activities and their purpose and management
• Survey of local and national industry to assess extent of contacts with centre, and perception of value.  

 CIRCA conducted a major study to review the practical research interactions between Higher Education institutions and Industry, and also to identify what actions might assist effective interaction. The overall task was to better understand (a) the specific role of university research in current and future industry R&D activities, and (b) the role of industrial collaboration and interaction within Irish Higher Education institutions (HEI). The study separately assessed the views of Industry and of HEI representatives on issues relating to mutual interaction. The study included: 

• Consultation with national agencies, university research officers and industry associations. 
• Focus Groups with industry,  researchers and others  
• Workshops of industry, agencies and researchers to discuss the issues identified and propose solutions

 The Institute of Technology Sector comprises 14 Institutes which provide a comprehensive range of third-level education from craft/apprentice programmes to Honours Bachelor Degrees. The Institutes also provide a range of postgraduate programmes at Postgraduate Diploma, Masters and Doctoral level. In addition, the Institutes play an important role in providing for recurrent educational needs by way of part-time and evening courses as well as catering for continuing professional education and development of the workforce through innovative partnerships with industry.  They have become increasingly involved in R&D and have shown initiative in developing applied R&D programmes.  The project was to support the process of developing a combined strategy for R&D performance by the sector.  The study involved: 

• Analysis of R&D activity within the IoT sector and survey of IOT managers regarding their R&D aspirations and issues affecting their performance of R&D. 
• Focus Groups with researchers within the sector on their attitudes to R&D and their perceptions of current barriers and opportunities
• Analysis of current administrative and legal issues constraining R&D performance within the sector,  including review of all literature relating to national and IoT research activity and policy
• Presentation of options for R&D strategies to IoT management

 CIRCA conducted a project for the Science Council of Lithuania,  the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania to prepared a “Feasibility Study on a Programme- and Competition-Based R&D Financing Model”.  Based on the results of  Surveys and Analysis of Foreign Countries’ Experiences, and taking due account of Lithuania’s political, social, cultural, and economic context, the following models were to be created:

• A  focussed programme and competition-based fundamental scientific research financing model A comprehensive applied scientific research and experimental development financing model 
• A unified programme- and competition-based R&D financing model,

The project included: 

• surveys of employees of scientific and higher education institutions and high-tech companies 
• a detailed analysis of R&D financing models operating in various countries and of models applied in selected countries
• visits to selected countries to review their approach to similar programmes. 

CIRCA Group was one of the team of consulting organisations which conducted the the ‘Biotechnology for Europe Study (Bio4EU)’. The study was lead by Thomas Reiss of the Fraunhofer Institute and also included VTT (Finland), TNO (Nl), Innogen (UK) and Georgia Tech (USA). The EU has now published the output of this study in a report which is entitled ‘Consequences, Opportunities and Challenges of Modern Biotechnology for Europe’. This is the first comprehensive evaluation of the contribution of modern biotechnology to major European Union policy goals. The study was commissioned by the European Parliament and managed by the IPTS (www.jrc.es), an EU institute. The synthesis report is available at http://bio4eu.jrc.es/index.html The document has already been used to inform the European Commission’s mid-term review of the Biotechnology Strategy.