The Small Firms Merit Award for Research and Technology (SMART) programme in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 gives funding and assistance to individuals and small businesses for research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 in the field of innovation

Innovation

Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...

.

Structure of Invest Northern Ireland

SMART is one of a range of government–sponsored programmes run by Invest Northern Ireland. Daily business is conducted by an independent Board and overseen by the Government Minister for the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment (DETI). Invest NI is used to implement the government policy of stimulating new businesses in areas of high unemployment like Northern Ireland. SMART spreads the high costs and associated risks of research and development

Research and development

The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...

 for new, innovation-based businesses, and so encourages their start-up.

Eligibility for awards

In general, SMART is open to individuals, sole traders, partnerships, independent companies, or parts of a group that are both based or planning to be based in Northern Ireland and do not exceed certain size criteria.

Size of awards

The awards are competitive, but if successful, applicants receive support of up to £45,000 at stage one carry out the research, and up to £150,000 at stage two of the programme over a 6-18 month period to help carry out their technical and commercial feasibility studies.

There is also a SMART Micro programme, designed for smaller projects. This offers funding of up to £10,000.

By 2006, £1m of grants was being given to applicants in Northern Ireland.

Some current and previous SMART awards recipients

• Adaptive Communication Systems - Testing, verifying and debugging complex electronic designs, based at ECIT at the Queen's University of Belfast
• Giltspur Scientific - Manufacturers of orthopaedic shoes for the treatment of lameness in dairy cows
• Haemoband Surgical – The ‘Haemoband Multi-Ligator’ for treatment of haemorrhoids
• InspecVision Ltd.
  InspecVision Ltd.
  InspecVision Ltd. is a UK company based in Larne, Northern Ireland. A manufacturer of computer vision inspection systems, it is one of several local hi-tech companies created as spinoffs or inspired by research conducted at the Queen's University of Belfast. Other notable examples include , , ,...
  
   - A manufacturer of computer vision inspection systems
• Integrated Silicon Systems Ltd
• Merlin Microwave Ltd
• Westlink Autogas

See also

• Economy of Northern Ireland
  Economy of Northern Ireland
  The economy of Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four countries in the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland has traditionally had an industrial economy, most notably in shipbuilding, rope manufacture and textiles, but most heavy industry has since been replaced by services...
  
  
• Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment
• List of Government departments and agencies in Northern Ireland
• SMART (Scottish Business Grant)
  SMART (Scottish Business Grant)
  SMART: SCOTLAND is a high profile innovation support grant scheme in Scotland aimed at small and medium-sized firms. It supports commercially viable projects which represent a significant technological advance for the UK sector or industry concerned....
  
  

External links

• Invest Northern Ireland SMART awards main page
• Announcement: £1m given in SMART awards from Invest NI, 2006
• Northern Irish news article on SMART awards from 2002
• Electronics Weekly article on Merlin Microwave Ltd's SMART award
• Update from InvestNI on Haemoband Surgical, former recipient of a SMART award