LYIT is amongst the top 3 Institutes of Technology in Ireland who have completed the highest number of projects supporting technology businesses.  This is part of an Innovation Voucher scheme, first introduced by the government in March 2007 to help support small businesses.  The scheme which aims to drive innovation in small firms originated from a recommendation from the Small Business Forum and was introduced by Enterprise Ireland.

According to new figures released by Enterprise Ireland, Institutes of Technology are by far more active in participation than universities in the Innovation scheme.  A total of 204 research projects have been completed under the Innovation Voucher programme with LYIT and Athlone IT in joint third place, each having completed 16 projects.  Trinity College is the highest ranked of the country’s major universities, coming sixth on the list - with 12 projects completed.

Under the scheme, small businesses can apply for vouchers of €5,000 which can be used for research on their behalf in universities, institutes of technology and other organisations.  The scheme, which is operated by Enterprise Ireland, follows a similar initiative in the Netherlands.

LYIT has supported a number of companies in the digital, telecommunications and ICT areas.  Speaking about the LYIT participation in the Innovation scheme Paul Hannigan, President, commented, “Innovation must be encouraged and supported where possible - education has a contribution to make in sharing knowledge to create the right environment for innovation to flourish.  The reason our participation in this innovation initiative is so high is due to the quality and viability of ideas which exists from businesses in the North West.”

The Innovation Voucher scheme has been extended to include Northern Ireland, and a link-up with Invest NI will offer companies access to an additional ten ‘knowledge providers’ in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of educational institutions involved with the scheme to 38.