Innovation Dublin festival

A WEEK-long festival of innovation that offers more than 200 free events around Dublin aims to show that the city is open for business.

That’s according to Michael Stubbs, assistant city manager at Dublin City Council, who explained that the idea grew out of discussions at the Creative Dublin Alliance involving local councils, universities, State agencies, businesses and the not-for-profit sector.

“There’s a huge amount of work going on that doesn’t make it out into the public domain,” he said. “We felt it needed to become more rooted in reality.”

So, rather than dwell on the tough economic times, the idea was to highlight what Dublin can be proud of. “We want to show the human side of innovation, the buzz, the creativity,” said Stubbs.

The eclectic mix of events includes the Dragons Den-style IBM Smartcamp finals for new technology businesses (Civic Offices, October 15th), a tour of The Irish Times printing facilities at Citywest (fully booked), Hip Nós, which blends hip-hop and the sean-nós tradition (Vicar Street, October 20th), an interactive MyCity planning exhibition starting at the new Wood Quay Venue (also on October 20th) and a debate on What’s Smart about Ireland’s Smart Economy (City Hall, October 14th, book through www.ria.ie).

The festival aims to position Dublin as a hub of innovation and covers not just enterprise but also the environment, public realm, culture and people.

“It’s not just about science and technology, it’s not just about business and innovation, it’s not just about music and the arts,” said Stubbs. “It’s about all of them.”

Innovation Dublin 2009 runs from October 14th to 20th. For more information see www.innovationdublin.ie