In his first main interview since taking over the reins as the brand new CEO of Analysis Eire, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien sat down with SiliconRepublic.com for a wide-ranging dialogue.
Having lately departed his function as pro-vice-chancellor for innovation on the College of Cambridge within the UK to take up the reins on the younger Analysis Eire company, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien is clearly relishing the challenges and alternatives of the brand new function. He believes the company has a crucial half to play in Eire’s future prosperity and progress.
“I cherished my function in Cambridge, however a brand new job, new company, new dedication to analysis and innovation inside the nation, it simply appeared like a very nice alternative to come back again and do one thing, not simply at an institutional stage, however at a nationwide stage,” O’Brien says in regards to the transfer.
“And I suppose I’m of the view – and I hope others share this view – that analysis and innovation goes to be actually, actually crucial for our future. So to have the ability to play a task in serving to to develop Eire from a analysis innovation perspective, and make us prepared for that future, is admittedly thrilling.”
Previous to that final function, O’Brien was chief govt of Cambridge Enterprise, and earlier than that had labored in a spread of roles in Trinity School Dublin for greater than 15 years together with being Trinity’s first chief innovation and enterprise officer. All that having hung out at venture-backed start-ups in his earlier profession. He’s hoping to convey that breadth of expertise to bear on the company.
The analysis funding company will play a big function in Eire’s financial technique, and in how we enhance our competitiveness, as laid out by the Draghi Report, he tells me.
“Personally, I believe Analysis Eire goes to be a very crucial strategic asset for the nation,” says O’Brien. “In the event you take a look at the massive image – at one stage, we’ve bought a really optimistic story in Eire, which we shouldn’t lose sight of. We’re one of many few economies that’s persevering with to develop. We’re one of many few economies in Europe that’s nonetheless making a finances surplus.
“Having mentioned that, I believe all of us recognise there are challenges at a scientific stage and possibly at an financial stage. It’s clear that we have to proceed to develop international direct funding and embed it right here, however on the identical time, we have to actually improve our deal with how we develop an Irish industrial base. It’s laborious to see how we are able to obtain both of these objectives with out a important enhance within the effectiveness of our analysis and innovation capability as a rustic.”
O’Brien is fast to emphasize that that is simply a part of the company’s function, and one other is round societal influence.
“It’s not nearly our financial future. If we take into consideration the challenges we face as a rustic across the local weather agenda, or AI and regulation, or the digitisation of our economic system, or the challenges we’ve now about utilizing proof and information to tell public coverage so we are able to do issues higher round infrastructure and planning and housing – all of that can also be knowledgeable and enabled by an enhanced analysis and innovation surroundings.
“It’s additionally enabled by a PhD-trained expertise base who can convey that crucial considering, convey that evaluation, convey the understanding of knowledge into public service life, into NGOs and into trade. So for me, analysis and innovation is mostly a core pillar. I believe we’ve moved from a nice-to-have, to a must have for that type of surroundings. And that’s why I’m enthusiastic about analysis Eire and the function it could play over the subsequent variety of years.”
Do watch the interview to listen to in regards to the three pillars that might be on the core of Analysis Eire’s new technique when printed subsequent month (March), and for better element on O’Brien’s view of Eire’s future and our analysis infrastructure.
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