Geneva Pattison
Trinity College has announced that creating an Innovation Hub is the first step in their Grand Canal Innovation District plan. The Hub will be a place where start-ups and entrepreneurs can work and develop ideas. This new space will also be used as a venue, where academics, locals and business people can gather for weekly events. In the last few days, Trinity have unveiled their plans to have the Hub operational by “the first quarter of 2022”. The build will be supported by two government grants, those being, The Regional Enterprise Development Fund and the Urban Regeneration Fund.
In January 2020, the Cabinet approved the new Grand Canal Innovation District plan (GCID). The GCID plan intends to create an urban “cluster” of research institutes, educational institutes, tech and creative start-ups. Stakeholders are hoping these planned changes and new builds will boost the Irish economy in the coming years. Trinity College will be at the centre of all the new projects and will act as a scouting ground for future creative and innovative talent. The location of the new Hub will be the former L. Connaughton and Sons LTD site on Grand Canal Dock. The Hub is just one of the new builds planned for the area, with building and development planned to span over the next 10 years.
When asked about the planned development, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said:
“I welcome today’s announcement that the first phase of the Innovation District will soon be in development. When the Cabinet approved the project in January, we did so because of the critical role innovation will play in supporting the future of the Irish economy and the opportunity for GCID to position Dublin into the future as a European tech hub. It will act as a location for Irish start-up companies with global ambition as well as attracting new sources of foreign direct investment. COVID 19 has challenged our economy and GCID is an example of the kind of investment that will help our economy recover and grow in the years that lie ahead”.
A question posed by this new long term development is, how will this help people during the pandemic? The Global Institute on Innovation Districts hopes to answer this question in it’s analysis of Innovation Districts helping with future planning locally. They seek to explain how Innovation Districts can drive the local economy forward, by creating spaces to share knowledge, data and insights among locals and the wider community. Read more about this from the link below.
Global Institute on Innovation Districts website: https://www.giid.org/positioning-innovation-districts-as-a-road-to-recovery-five-insights-for-national-and-state-governments/
Trinity College Dublin’s GCID Information:
https://www.tcd.ie/innovation-district/news/2020/11/Innovation-hub-GCID/
