Northern Ireland VRC assists local SME in developing new technologies for the European market
The Northern Ireland VALUE Relay Centre (VRC) has assisted a local SME in establishing two independent "heads of agreement" contracts for further development of electronics products stemming from the DRIVE and ESPRIT programmes. The company concerned has a strong reputation in Northern Ireland for advanced electronic products and was looking for new products to exploit the increasingly accessible European market. The VRC initiated discussions with the company in order to understand their technology and the market they wished to exploit. A search of the CORDIS Projects and Results databases was conducted, presenting a number of possibilities in relevant areas, which included the results of a DRIVE project owned by a Dutch firm. Later, a complementary ESPRIT technology project owned by a French firm was disseminated through the network of VALUE Relay Centres and passed from the Northern Ireland VRC to their client. The Northern Ireland VRC assisted the local SME in negotiation with both the Dutch and French firms which resulted in contracts. A joint venture is now likely to be launched before the end of 1994 for the development of the relevant technologies.
Countries
United Kingdom