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18/01/2005
Dublin's Media Lab Europe to close
Media Lab Europe in Dublin has announced that the company has been placed into voluntary solvent liquidation as agreement has not been reached between the two principle stakeholders.
The Irish Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) failed to reach agreement on funding for Media Lab Europe (MLE) and the research and development centre, which had attracted 100 staff from the US and Europe will close.
Launched in 2000, MLE was heralded as a ground breaking research and innovation laboratory for a range of advanced digital technology. Following its establishment, MLE has built up expertise in a range of innovative research and staff included, researchers, students, collaborators and part-time undergraduates.
However, commercially the enterprise was not such a success, and despite a substantial array of innovative projects in development, only a few small companies were attracted to MLE.
Projects developed in association with partners at MLE included companies such as AIB (Ireland) AOL (US and Ireland), BT (UK), Ericsson (Sweden), Essilor (France), Intel (US and Ireland) and Orange (UK/France), and development agencies.
A spokesperson for MLE said: "The Board believes that it is important to acknowledge the innovative work of the Lab since it was established. Much of this work has been coming to fruition in recent months, with 14 patent applications filed and a number of commercialisation opportunities being explored."
Media Lab Europe also introduced an MIT Masters degree programme in Media, Arts and Sciences to Ireland. Over 20 collaborative projects with Irish universities were under way where faculty and students from the university collaborated with Media Lab Europe researchers, with activity taking place at both centres. This provided a number of Irish third-level institutes with exposure to MIT innovation and the Lab collaborated in a number of EU-funded international research projects.
Initially funding by the Irish Government, MLE was expected to gradually become self-financing through securing corporate funding for its research activities. However, the Board said, "the climate of the past four years has proven extremely difficult for the lab, MIT and the international ICT sector".
(SP/MB)
The Irish Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) failed to reach agreement on funding for Media Lab Europe (MLE) and the research and development centre, which had attracted 100 staff from the US and Europe will close.
Launched in 2000, MLE was heralded as a ground breaking research and innovation laboratory for a range of advanced digital technology. Following its establishment, MLE has built up expertise in a range of innovative research and staff included, researchers, students, collaborators and part-time undergraduates.
However, commercially the enterprise was not such a success, and despite a substantial array of innovative projects in development, only a few small companies were attracted to MLE.
Projects developed in association with partners at MLE included companies such as AIB (Ireland) AOL (US and Ireland), BT (UK), Ericsson (Sweden), Essilor (France), Intel (US and Ireland) and Orange (UK/France), and development agencies.
A spokesperson for MLE said: "The Board believes that it is important to acknowledge the innovative work of the Lab since it was established. Much of this work has been coming to fruition in recent months, with 14 patent applications filed and a number of commercialisation opportunities being explored."
Media Lab Europe also introduced an MIT Masters degree programme in Media, Arts and Sciences to Ireland. Over 20 collaborative projects with Irish universities were under way where faculty and students from the university collaborated with Media Lab Europe researchers, with activity taking place at both centres. This provided a number of Irish third-level institutes with exposure to MIT innovation and the Lab collaborated in a number of EU-funded international research projects.
Initially funding by the Irish Government, MLE was expected to gradually become self-financing through securing corporate funding for its research activities. However, the Board said, "the climate of the past four years has proven extremely difficult for the lab, MIT and the international ICT sector".
(SP/MB)
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