€95 million for ground-breaking projects under Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund
The Irish Government has announced that 29 exciting new projects have succeeded in securing funding under the third round of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund. The Government is investing €95 million in the successful projects over the next three years. The 29 ground-breaking projects cover areas such as life sciences, medical devices, ICT, artificial intelligence, manufacturing and environmental sustainability.
The projects include sub-sea robotic drilling, artificial intelligence for safety in factories of the future, more effective heating and cooling systems in commercial and industrial businesses, a platform to improve productivity on construction sites, and healthcare solutions in areas such as cancer treatments and chronic knee osteoarthritis.
Announcing the successful projects, The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D. said: “The pandemic and Brexit have combined to bring unprecedented economic challenges and volatility to our enterprise sector. But with every challenge comes new opportunities and the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund is dedicated to entrepreneurs and researchers working on some really exciting ideas to develop solutions to the problems we face.
“We are funding projects which will have wide-ranging benefits across many areas of society. Projects using AI to make factories safer and drones to detect drug smuggling, for example. There are many successful projects in the health sector, which we hope will result in better patient outcomes for thousands suffering from cancer, heart disease and fractured bones among other conditions. There is also focus on sustainability, with a number of projects looking at ways to improve and reduce energy use.
“These new technologies will create high-quality jobs in existing and emerging sectors, now and over the coming decades. There is a good spread of partners, based all around Ireland, highlighting the strength of our enterprise and research base all across the country.
“The level of DTIF funding involved – at €95 million – demonstrates our commitment to continue to invest and rebuild a stronger, more resilient economy after the pandemic.”
All projects involve collaborations of between three and eight partners, including SMEs, multinational corporations and research organisations. SME participation is an integral part of the Fund, with 62 SMEs among the 111 organisations involved and 22 leading their project.
The latest funding brings the total funding awarded under the three DTIF Calls to date to €235 million. The Fund, established under the National Development Plan in 2018, commits a total of €500 million of government funding, alongside enterprise co-funding of projects.
Among the successful projects are those that will:
- Develop an adhesive that will stick broken bone tissue together following fracture, allowing it to heal faster
- Use artificial intelligence to develop drones to better detect drug smuggling
- Develop a tool using artificial intelligence to identify breast and prostate cancer patients with early stage disease
- Design and build a prototype robotic drilling system for a wide range of applications including offshore wind
- Use artificial intelligence to trial a solution which will make factories safer for workers
- Use nanotechnology to reduce emissions by 40% in commercial and industrial heating and cooling systems
- Develop next generation therapeutic and gene therapies for gastrointestinal cancer
- Develop a treatment for chronic knee osteoarthritis, to deliver dramatic pain and mobility benefits to patients.
