Challenges

Located in Portlaoise, Co. Laois, The CUBE supports businesses in the Midlands region of Ireland and has a national reach. Officially opened in March 2023, The CUBE is in its early stages, focused on finding opportunities to aid regional businesses while establishing itself as a sustainable financial entity. Portlaoise stands out as Ireland’s first Low Carbon Town, championing sustainability and attracting businesses committed to a greener future. The CUBE is integral to this vision.

The services provided by ENTIRE EDIH have identified international examples of innovation centres that have overcome similar issues whilst embracing sustainable practices and digitalisation. This research shall help to provide The Cube with the foundation for a model of best practice to help attract and sustain new businesses in Laois.

IDA figures show Laois has the lowest number of IDA-supported jobs in Ireland. The Midlands region, with a population of 324,600 and covering 6,500 square kilometers, was recently named a ‘European Region of the Future’ by the Financial Times’ Intelligence ranking. It boasts clusters in Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, ICT, Life Sciences, and Food and Drink. Presently, this has led to a disconnect with the low number of IDA-supported jobs and a growing population: County Laois has experienced a 56% growth rate in the past twenty years – that is young – the largest young dependency ratio in Ireland at 33.8% – and that is highly educated – the Third Level educational attainment is currently at 34.53%.

By engaging with ENTIRE EDIH services, The CUBE aims to address challenges and opportunities for start-ups, investors, and expanding companies in Laois and the Midlands. This includes exploring funding opportunities for digital transformation, identifying training needs, and developing specialised programs to bridge skills gaps in digitalisation. The CUBE’s impact will be in supporting start-ups, accelerating their growth, enhancing efficiencies, and boosting competitiveness.

Solutions

We have found the visit to ArcLabs in South East Technological University (SETU) in Waterford and on-site meeting with the ENTIRE team to be extremely beneficial. This was part of Stage 1, Discovery and Assessment. During this visit, ENTIRE researchers met with The CUBE and explored our needs via discussion of the current use cases, workflow and the CUBE’s aspirational use cases and its proposed direction. Following this, ENTIRE researchers proposed an appropriate service as well as content for The CUBE’s path through the EDIH. Similarly, this service comprised a digital maturity assessment which allowed us to take a step back and look at any deficiencies, whilst being supported in identifying how The CUBE can not only improve our own digital needs, but also assist businesses in the Midlands region on their digitalisation journey.

As part of stage 1, an EDIH focus group took place with a number of stakeholders to define what we required as part of our needs assessment. This focus group was expertly facilitated by a member of the ENTIRE team and also provided us with an insight into how digitalisation needs for businesses in the region can be supported through our innovation centre.

The Tier 2 service provided to The CUBE was an investigation into ‘Current State of Digital Play for your Regional Needs.’ The preliminary findings of this investigation provided us with information about similar innovation hubs located in Europe, and potential opportunities that can be implemented by The CUBE. This includes identification of initiatives that received favourable responses by similar population demographics across Europe as well as strategies that have proven successful in areas with similar resources. We look forward to the implementation of these findings outlined to us.

As The CUBE works towards identifying funding streams, stage 2 has also provided us with an invaluable and unique overview of the national landscape, EU Horizon, as well as a mind map of network contacts generated during the assessment. Stage 2 culminated with us being provided with a comprehensive report. The findings of the Current Stage of Digital Play project has identified a number of potential opportunities around sustainable digitalisation and this will support the future development and direction of The CUBE.

We look forward to stage 3 as we engage with different sectors and stakeholders as we explore The CUBE’s role in the development of sustainable digitalisation.

Results and Benefits

Following the completion of stage 2 of ENTIRE’s service – Current State of Digital Play for your Region –  we have been provided with an end report. This will shape our direction for stage 3, and will allow us to look at addressing skills and training gaps in the area of digitalisation, and more specifically, sustainable digitalisation. This will allow us to support businesses in the Midlands region, providing them with a competitive advantage as they expand their business.

Stage 2 has allowed us to look at unlocking the digital potential not only for The CUBE, but in turn also have a positive knock-on effect for businesses located in the Midlands region.

The report provided to The CUBE summarises the findings to date which indicate a precedent for The CUBE’s goal of setting up a sustainable innovation centre that will attract and inform client businesses. The findings of this service to date have already enhanced The CUBE’s networking with similar centres in Ireland identified and relationships fostered. Although the research provided as part of this EDIH service has captured the demographics and opportunities on the ground. The ENTIRE researchers have also set up focus groups in order to communicate the research conducted at a European level and to ensure that the findings have local and regional presence.

Online meetings with members of the ENTIRE team have also been advantageous. This has led to collaborations which have brought The CUBE to European networks also which not only increases The CUBE’s visibility and opens links for funding opportunities, but also enables The CUBE to learn from others who are further along in their establishment and to develop partnerships with them.

Perceived social/economic impact

The identification of digital transformation supports and training opportunities to be delivered by the CUBE will benefit companies in the Midlands region by providing the supports they need to improve efficiencies, become more sustainable, and will also provide them with a competitive edge in growing markets.

We have growing clusters in ICT, Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering, Life Sciences, and Food and Drink – All sectors that have digital needs that can be supported and improved upon. Through the support of ENTIRE and the completion of Stage 1 and Stage 2, The CUBE will be well positioned to provide supports for growth and inovation.