John Breslin proposes the creation of a Galway City Innovation District to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. The district would be located near Galway's train and coach stations in the city center. It would start with an innovation hub in 2015 to house coworking spaces, workshops, and facilities for makers. This would bring together startups, corporations, universities, and the local community to collaborate and develop new technologies. Support has been expressed by several local organizations, and the goal is to make Galway a global hub for innovation.

1. GALWAY CITY
INNOVATION
DISTRICTJohn Breslin
TECHWEST / COLLINS MCNICHOLAS 5 MARCH 2015

2. Who am I?
Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Informatics
Researcher at Insight Centre for Data Analytics
Co-Founder of boards.ie
Co-Founder of adverts.ie
Chairman of Startup Galway
Board Member of WestBIC
Imagineer of Galway City Innovation District
Shameless Self Promoter and Creator of Titles
John Breslin
NUI Galway

3. Why is Galway great?
Named as the Top European
Microcity of the Future
2014/15 by Financial Times’
FDi Magazine
One of five global hubs in the
medtech sector (with nine out
of the world’s top 10 medtech
companies on its doorstep)
Valeo, Cisco, HP, Avaya, SAP,
IBM, APC, Arm, Schneider,
Fidelity, SAP, SmartBear, EA,
OnePageCRM, Pocket
Anatomy, Altocloud, Ex Ordo,
Element Wave, Netfort, CGA…
#1 Euro Microcity
FDi (Financial Times)
Medtech Hub
9/10 top companies
ICT Cluster
MNCs, SMEs, startups

5. 1. Menlo Castle (origin of Menlo Park
in Silicon Valley, California)
2. Computer Museum of Ireland (at DERI)
3. NUI Galway (where Stoney, originator
of term “electron”, was prof.)
4. Java’s (Zachary Quinto, AKA Spock,
waited on tables here)
OnePageCRM
Insight
Ex Ordo
1
2
3
4
5
G A L W A YT E C H M A P
European Microcity of the Future
5. Claddagh (birthplace of the Claddagh
Ring, and Angel from Buffy!)
6. Ignite TTO Business Innovation Centre
7. Galway Technology Centre
8. Innovation in Business Centre (at GMIT)
9. Marine Institute
7
8
6
@johnbreslin
@technologyvoice
@startupgalway
@galwaycity
#upgalway
#gaillimhabú
bit.ly/galwaytech

6. Startup GalwayMonthly tech meetup for the entrepreneurially minded in Galway
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9. What’s next?

10. Innovation district
The Rise of the Innovation Districts, Bruce Katz and Julie Wagner, Brookings Institution
“Innovation districts constitute the ultimate mash up of entrepreneurs and educational
institutions, start-ups and schools, mixed-use development and medical innovations,
bike-sharing and bankable investments—all connected by transit, powered by clean
energy, wired for digital technology, and fueled by caffeine.”
What is it?

11. Galway City Innovation
District
First innovation hub in 2015
Near Galway’s train and
coach stations, harbour area
A focal point for creativity,
innovation and
entrepreneurship in Galway’s
inner city
When
Where
What

12. First: an innovation hub
Don’t wait for five or ten year
plans: pick a building, show
that it can house an
innovation hub, through its
success grow into other
buildings and spaces nearby
Right in the city centre,
attractive location for
companies, walkable to the
transportation hubs, cafés
and restaurants, University,
Galway Harbour, and the sea
Hold open workshops in a
shared area to skill up local
companies and the
community in emerging tech
(cloud and web frameworks,
app development, etc.)
Allow companies to co-work
in a space that allows them to
leverage each other’s
expertise, bounce (ideas) off
each other, collaborate with
and mentor others
Incorporate if possible one or
all of the following:
hackerspace / makerspace,
fab lab, science gallery,
computer museum, Lego
room (please, pretty please)
Have a hot desk area for
short-term visitors to the city,
so that they can experience
what it’s like to be a
Galwegian, and hopefully
apply for citizenship later on
Lean approach Location is key Community focus
Co-working space Make and create Visitor friendly

13. Supporters so far…
Galway Chamber
Galway Harbour
Galway City Council
NUI Galway
Startup Galway
ITAG
WestBIC
IDA Ireland
Corporates TBA
…and more…

14. Innovating West13 March 2015
What’s the focus?
Who will be there?
30 CEOs, executives and leaders from
Google, Dell, HP, Digicel, Juniper
Networks, Portwest, JFC, GAME GOLF,
Element Wave, Alison, Cloud90, plus
over 250 attendees at the event
www.innovatingwest.com
Building world-class teams and
creating innovation ecosystems in the
West of Ireland

15. Thank you.
Any questions?
galwaycity.com
twitter.com/galwaycity
facebook.com/galwaycity
google.com/+galwaycity
slideshare.net/galwaycity