Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Provost Dr. John Hegarty, University College Dublin (UCD) President Dr. Hugh Brady and Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) chairman John Hartnett met in Dublin on June 15, where they announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote technological innovation, provide Irish companies business opportunities in the United States and advance the goals of the recently announced Innovation Alliance.

ITLG is an independent organization founded by Hartnett in 2007 comprised of a number of Irish and Irish-American high-level technology leaders in Silicon Valley, including senior executives from some of the Valley’s leading corporations.

ITLG will attempt to enhance the training of students in the new TCD/UCD Innovation Academy, as well as helping grow the amount of quality business spin-outs from the Alliance. Irish Technology Capital (ITC), a sister organization of ITLG, will help to drive venture capital funding in Ireland.

“In the midst of Irish and U.S. economic turmoil, there has never been a more important moment to foster and invest in technological innovation,” said Harnett. “ITLG is delighted to seize the opportunity to pursue that objective in partnership with Ireland’s premier research universities through the Innovation Alliance.”

Both representatives from Ireland's leading universities have no doubts that this alliance will benefit their institutions.

“We are firmly confident that the caliber of our graduates and our research will encourage greater engagement between the Innovation Alliance and the ITLG," said Brady.

“In the Innovation Alliance we would like to expose our students a little more to that spirit of creativity, entrepreneurship and drive for success that characterizes the ITLG members, themselves graduates of the Irish education system," said Hegarty.

Representatives from TCD, UCD and ITLG will gather at a summit meeting at the Irish embassy in Washington D.C. on Sept. 10, 2009 to further develop the partnership and work on the objectives highlighted in the MOU.