Seanad debates

Wednesday, 5 February 2003

Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Bill 2002: Second Stage.

 

Nicholas Ashford, who works in MIT, makes a distinction between invention and innovation. A world class research centre will, I hope, be successful at invention. Innovation is the commercial application of invention. There are two kinds innovation, there is the stepwise form and there is the kind of quantum leap made when something new appears. One could look at the development of personal computers since the first model came on the market as stepwise innovation, whereas the first PC was a fundamental innovation.

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