Dublin Innovation Festival to include tours of Ringsend sewage works

TOURS OF the Ringsend sewage plant, demonstrations of a solar powered public litter bin and business plan presentations by primary school children are among more than 200 free events which will take place during the Innovation Dublin Festival.

The festival, organised by Dublin City Council, runs from October 14th-20th and aims to show the creativity and innovation at work in the city and to encourage new ideas and new enterprises to develop.

The events, which will be held at a number of locations across Dublin city and county, are based around a series of lectures, workshops, debates, exhibitions, tours and concerts on five themes: the public realm, enterprise, environment, people and culture.

Organisations involved include the four Dublin local authorities, seven third-level institutions including UCD and Trinity College, and 39 companies including IBM, Microsoft, Siemens, Diageo and The Irish Times.

Tours of places not generally open to the public, such as the Dublin City Council traffic control room, the Ringsend waste water treatment plant, and the Irish Times printing facility will be available, as well tours of places which generally charge an admission fee, such as the Guinness Store House.

Lectures and workshops will be held on the skills necessary to develop ideas, how to foster entrepreneurship in the current economic climate and how to develop new businesses. Entrepreneurs and innovators will also have the opportunity to showcase their ideas.

IBM is running a Smart Camp competition which will give new Irish start-up companies the chance to receive mentoring from leading businesses in the IT industry as well as the chance to win prizes such as office space and access to technology.

Cultural events include walking tours by historian Pat Liddy, concerts by the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, and Hip Nós, a hip-hop and sean nós fusion night.

At the launch of the festival programme yesterday, Dublin city manager John Tierney said it was an opportunity to promote enterprise and ideas in the city.

“This event is a showcase of what’s happening in the city and is a opportunity to highlight the case for Dublin both nationally and internationally as a place to do business.”

A programme of events is available at www.innovationdublin.ie