The LINC for Business Support

The LINC - Learning and Innovation Centre, brings the experience and resources of the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown (ITB) to your start-up or existing business.

If you are thinking of setting up or developing your business the LINC can provide you with a wide range of
general supports linked to ITB, including enterprise support and incubation space, facilities for researching and developing your business through applied research projects, and education and training programmes designed for your needs to improve your competitiveness.

Enterprise Support

The LINC can provide your start-up business with the following supports: -

Incubation space, with options also for single desk occupancy;
Innovative enterprise programmes, including the M50 Enterprise Platform programme and the Enterprise Start programme;
Mentoring and coaching to help you develop your business idea;
Virtual offices space;
Access to ITB facilities;
Access to ITB graduates for student placement and projects; and
Access to the ITB research communities.

The LINC’s innovative M50 Enterprise Platform Programme can provide you with a one-year full-time enterprise support programme. This is designed to help you to make the leap from employment to the full-time operation of your own business, whilst having the safety net of comprehensive support and funding.

As a client of the LINC you will be encouraged to develop links with the Schools in the Institute, either
by working with the academics and students on research projects relevant to your business, or through student placements.

The LINC can also help you through its strong links with the key enterprise support agencies, including Enterprise Ireland, Fingal County Enterprise Board and Fingal County Council. The LINC is also an international member of the UK Business Incubation network.

Research and Development Opportunities

The LINC can provide your start-up or expanding business with a bridge to the research community in ITB. In turn, this could help you develop partnerships by accessing a further range of supports, including Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Voucher and Innovation Partnership Programmes.

ITB has a strong research track record, with research groups that may be of interest to your business in the fields of:

Graphics and Gaming
E-learning
Computer Forensics and Networking
Clinical and Bio-engineering
Intelligent Transport Infrastructure and Systems
Computer Linguistics, Computer Vision, Computational Intelligence, Data Mining, Deaf Studies
Language Education
Entrepreneurship

Since ITB opened in 1999, the research community have been successful applied for funding from Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Education and Science, the Higher Education Authority, EU programmes, IRCSET and IRCHSS.

Education and Training Programmes

To help you develop your business LINC has designed industry links and supports to deliver bespoke training programmes, as well as collaborations in research projects and student placements. ITB and The LINC have been involved with local industries in the development of special purpose awards to meet specific
needs for large-scale businesses, such as Ericsson Ireland, Damovo Ireland, CMAE Ireland, Intel, IBM and the HSE.

The LINC is available to help you through the development of learning programmes that meet needs not currently available to your business, but which are sustainable for a significant period in the future.
The LINC has state-of-the-art training rooms that can be used for enterprise development programmes, research conferences and industry training programmes, as well as being used by you for customer meetings, and showcasing your products and services. The Pearson VUE Select Test Centre is also located at the LINC, allowing participants the convenience of completing on-line assessments. It is also able to offer
you the Pearson Test Centre, which allows participants the convenience of completing on-line assessments at The LINC.

Given the Institute’s location near many high-tech indigenous and multi-national companies and the highly qualified graduates and staff at ITB, the LINC is particularly appropriate if your startup or existing business is in the broad field of knowledge-based services and products. You will find that the clustering of so many large IT companies in the Blanchardstown area makes it a great location for your new technology-based
start-up business to grow rapidly through positive networking.

Contact Us

For further details of how The LINC might be able to help your start-up or business expansion plans please contact Assumpta Harvey 018851186 or linc@itb.ie or visit http://www.itblinc.ie