Border Innovation Gateway (BIG) was an ambitious regionally based pilot pre-incubation initiative, which aimed to catalyse a step change in the creation of high technology high growth businesses in the East Border Region.
For the first time in Ireland, the Border Innovation Gateway project drew on the pre-incubation model for creating entrepreneurial cultures and cascading economies in other high technology regions of the world. With the collective entrepreneurship, research and commercialisation and business support resources of Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT), Newry Institute/Greenshoots Newry Ltd and the Business Support Centre within Upper Bann Institute the project has been an extreme success. The programme targeted people with knowledge based ideas like engineering, ICT, software, creative and digital media.
Border Innovation Gateway had three main aims
- to educate potential entrepreneurs,
- to help develop their potential business concepts, and
- to help those entrepreneurs make a more informed choice when
considering the idea of enterprise creation and in particular their
suitability to running their own business.
The programme supported 61 potential entrepreneurs and as a direct result of participating in the BIG Programme a County Down Vet Dr
Joe McKelvey established a new consultancy service which runs and advises on pharmaceutical veterinary clinical trials. Her company has already developed a global market securing contracts from around the world.
