ABSTRACT
Promotion of the knowledge-based economy, and more generally, the information society has been prominent in both the republic of Ireland (RoI) and Northern Ireland (NI) over recent years. In Ireland, the current public spending emphasis on Research and Development (R&D) and innovation through Science Foundation Ireland and other initiatives emphasizes the centrality of ‘knowledge’ to future development. In Northern Ireland, essentially similar although smaller scale initiatives are underway through investment in R&D Centres of Excellence and the implementation of a regional innovation strategy originally developed in 2003. More broadly, the move from European Union (EU) Framework Programme 6 to Framework Programme 7 marks a substantial increase in EU resources devoted to new knowledge creation, sharing and application.
