Dublin and Silicon Valley sign major clean-tech agreement
A major agreement between leading cleantech organisations in Dublin and Silicon Valley was signed in San Jose. The agreement between The Green Way – Dublin’s Cleantech Cluster and the Environmental Business Cluster (EBC) in San Jose, will lead to a dramatic increase in R&D, business development, commercialisation and investment opportunities for Irish and San Jose companies looking to access U.S. and EU cleantech markets respectively.
According to the ‘Expert Group on Future Skills Needs’, the cleantech sector in Ireland employs 18,750 people and is worth over €3bn to the economy. This employment figure is set to rise to 29,000 by 2015. Ireland is currently ranked 9th in the ‘Global Cleantech Innovation Index 2012’ which showed that “Ireland stood out surprisingly well” and “scored in the top 10 for evidence of commercialised cleantech innovation”.
Speaking at the signing of the agreement Tony Boyle, CEO of The Green Way said “This agreement is a concrete example of our mission to create jobs and international trade opportunities for Dublin cleantech companies, as well as attracting the next generation of cleantech companies from the Valley into Ireland.”
He continued, “The Environmental Business Cluster, alongside its sister Biocenter facility, is responsible for the largest and most successful private incubator programme for cleantech companies in the U.S. This bilateral agreement will now offer Irish cleantech companies access to this ecosystem, and enhance Ireland’s standing internationally in this rapidly growing industry.”
Melinda Richter, CEO of Prescience International and Executive Director of the Environmental Business Cluster and San Jose BioCenter stated, “One of the key objectives of the EBC is to provide Silicon Valley cleantech companies with access to global markets including the EU. This agreement with The Green Way will facilitate the linkage of San Jose companies with Dublin’s cleantech cluster and leverage the involvement of Dublin Academic institutions, municipal authorities, the international airport and the business community, in their efforts to commercialise their technology for European markets.”
Seán Giblin, Managing Director of Cylon, a Dublin based cleantech company within The Green Way, commented “The link between The Green Way and the EBC aligns with the growth strategy for our business, particularly in the U.S. We have recently expanded into the U.S., and are looking at ways to establish a footprint in Silicon Valley and gain access to the cleantech markets, investors and technology partners there. This agreement will directly facilitate our goals, and those of other Irish cleantech companies.”
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Andrew Montague, who is leading the Dublin ’sister city’ delegation said, “We see this agreement as the first step in establishing a strong working cleantech partnership between Dublin and San Jose, two global centres of high tech innovation and entrepreneurship. Dublin’s longstanding relationship with San Jose has been key to the growth of the ICT sector in Ireland, and this new agreement will deepen the practical links for the cleantech sector, and is fundamental to our objective to make Dublin the cleantech capital of Europe. It creates an open invitation and opportunity for companies in both countries to work together to create business and economic partnerships for generations to come.”
The established Dublin / San Jose ‘sister city’ relationship is the platform on which The Green Way and EBC intend to build a deeper cleantech collaboration between the cities. Dublin has a similar twinning arrangement with Beijing, and The Green Way is also seeking to forge bilateral links with Beijing peer organisations in the cleantech sector. The opportunity exists for The Green Way to put Ireland at the intersection of Silicon Valley cleantech innovation and Chinese cleantech capital, with potential spillover effects for green job creation.
