The project is delivered by 6 research streams. These packages interrogate 3 key themes. Each research stream engages with partners in civil society, business, and governance with many major partners, being involved across several research streams.
Engagements will be managed in a co-ordinated set of integrated activities, such as masterclasses, briefings and summer schools, which knit the research streams together.
The deliverables from the consortium in its first four years of operation are extensive and diverse. They include seven doctorates, focus groups, surveys, a variety of high-quality research publications, reports, masterclasses, and a mentoring scheme for female entrepreneurs in the region. These are specified in the work-plan descriptions establishing itself as an internationally recognised centre of excellence for impactful research.
This research stream will compare and benchmark three entrepreneurial ecosystems in the West of Ireland (north and south) containing smaller cities and towns: the Mid-West with Limerick as the city hub, the West with Galway as the city hub, and the North-West which has several hubs north and south of the border, including Derry, Donegal and Sligo.
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View Research Stream 1
A distinctive feature of regional economic growth is the contribution made by a few very fast growing, highly innovative ventures, often with global intent. Scaling a business once product/market fit has been achieved is a complex task and the tacit knowledge built up through trial and error by management teams in scaling businesses has not been codified.
View Research Stream 2
The Irish eco-system for entrepreneurship is broadly favourable at a national level (OECD, 2019). However, this does not hold when we look at entrepreneurship from a regional or gender perspective. Levels of entrepreneurship in the Border, Midlands and West region and in the cross border North West City region are below national and European averages.
View Research Stream 3
This research stream undertakes a mixed methods and multi-level analysis approach to explore the factors which constrain and enable digital skills development and digital transformation in rural and peripheral regions in the west of Ireland (which span north and south- west and border regions).
View Research Stream 4
This research stream undertakes a mixed methods and multi-level analysis approach to explore the factors which constrain and enable digital skills development and digital transformation in rural and peripheral regions in the west of Ireland (which span north and south- west and border regions).
View Research Stream 5
High-quality international transport connectivity is a National Strategic Outcome under the National Development Plan (NDP) published in October 2021 and is critical for regional competitiveness and economic growth. The NDP specifically identifies the strategic importance of strengthening surface connectivity to ports and airports in the North-West of the island.
View Research Stream 6