InterTradeIreland announces more graduate opportunities

InterTradeIreland, the cross-border trade and business development body, has revealed an expansion in the number of places for its Fusion initiative, with a total of 40 spaces now being set aside for graduates.

Fusion, the first all-island network between industry and academia, uses graduates as knowledge carriers to facilitate the transfer of technology into companies thus increasing innovation and Research and Development (R&D) capability.

Speaking at the launch on Thursday April 4, Sir Reg Empey, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment said: “This means that a small company gains access to the services of a graduate with particular expertise in an area that a small company may not otherwise be able to afford.

“If we get a company in the South, we can match it with a knowledge centre from Northern Ireland and vice versa. This brings to small businesses the potential to do pre-market testing, or to get research done into something that they would probably not have the expertise or resources to do.”

Mary Harney, the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment added: “One of the difficulties with small indigenous companies in the past was their failure to invest in R&D and there’s now a greater emphasis being placed on this on an all–island basis.”

Working initially for an 18-month period, each graduate is employed by a progressive company to lead a pivotal technology-based development project within the company. During the project, the graduate has full access to the facilities and expertise of a specialist knowledge centre (university, college or technology centre) with which the company is partnered. The graduate is also trained in business skills and project management.

The initiative covers the following business sectors where increased knowledge and technology transfer is particularly important: Engineering, Computer Science, ICT and related sectors.

(AMcE)