The Innovation Programme of Sea Change is a cross-cutting support measure appropriate to all three Research Measures planned in this Strategy. It encompasses a significant range of technical support measures associated with the management and delivery of the Strategy by the lead implementing agency. This includes dedicated programme management resources, third-level – industry brokering and facilitation, technical mentoring, the stimulation of international collaboration and networking and support for commercialisation. The ability to commercialise the outputs from a research and development programme is an essential, yet often missing, component of management practice. It requires a closer alliance between industry, the agencies that fund research and the development agencies.
The Innovation Programme also encompasses the need for the provision of co-ordinated supports by the state’s industrial development agencies. The provision of supports to firms in the marine sector to help them to improve their ability to manage technology at all stages of their value chain is recognised as essential; by the firms themselves and by development agencies. Helping firms to establish or engage in research and development activity, whether related to the creation of new products or production processes directly supports the creation of a competitive advantage.
As specified in the Enterprise Strategy (Ahead of the Curve, Ireland’s Place in the Global Economy. The Enterprise Strategy Group, July 2004) the conditions required for innovation are crucially dependant on complementarities and interactions between a range of players. In the context of this strategy further research is required to identify the barriers (internal and external) to innovation in the marine sector to feed into the design of appropriate ‘development agency’ support measures. As the strategy evolves it will be essential to identify what areas of skills are critical for boosting innovation in the sector and support the development of a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the supply and demand for skills. This includes the need to examine new requirements for vocational training to support the adjustment of skills to labour market needs within the sector and opportunities for the third-level sector to partner with employers to increase the exposure of science and engineering graduates to opportunities in the marine sector. This Programme will support specific innovation related actions in each of the three Research Measures.
Further information on the Marine Innovation Supporting Programme (PDF, 88KB) from Sea Change, Part 1 is available to download.
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