it@cork and KerrySciTech today signed a historic MOU to take the South-West technology and business ecosystem to a new level.

KerrySciTech & it@cork, two leading technology clusters in the South-West, have today announced a new collaboration which will see the coming together of both organisations for the significant benefit of the Technology sector in Kerry and Cork.

Both organisations signed a detailed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to strengthen the alliance and formalise the collaboration between the two cluster organisations, with the aim to further catalyse the growth of the tech-producing and tech-enabled ecosystem across the region and beyond.

”This MOU reflects the ongoing commitment of both associations to deliver the highest level of value to members and the wider STEM and business community in our region” said Manjit Gill, Chair of KerrySciTech, going on to say how “In the new world we now operate, this union makes strategic sense for the region. By building something powerful together we can capitalise on future opportunities and play a pivotal role in driving the long-term sustainable growth of the region”.

As industry and businesses continue to be challenged by geopolitical instability, economic volatility and an increasingly competitive talent market, Gillian Bergin, Chair of it@cork explained how “the timing felt right to combine resources and deliver services in a better-together model by building on the shared experience of our teams, to scale up our existing services and design new ones in response to changing needs”. Bergin continued “By consolidating our offerings, we can ensure efforts are optimised for maximum impact. Our goal is to create a vibrant business ecosystem and propel the entire region into the global ranks of top places to live, work, innovate and thrive.”

Over the last number of months, Cluster Managers Juliette Crowley (it@cork) and Aoife O’Brien (KerrySciTech) have worked diligently with a group of Board Members from each organisation to develop and agree the strategic commitments that serve as the core of the MOU. These commitments and principles aim to significantly strengthen and accelerate the growth of all industries in the region, by continuous delivery of the vision through collaboration, innovation and exploring new opportunities together.

“With a collective membership of almost 250 members, this new collaboration will be one of the largest member-led technology clusters in Ireland. By enabling new levels of collaboration and innovation across start-up, SMEs and multinational companies and leveraging the abundance of assets spanning both counties, we can realise greater broad-based growth and development for all our stakeholders.” said Aoife.

Building on the point, Juliette explained how “all companies are tech companies today, either producing it or enabled by it, so through our shared vision we will prepare the South-West for added investment, deliver a stronger regional tech capability and play a significant role in business development, job creation and talent attraction across both Cork and Kerry.”

Members of each organisation will have equal access to both it@cork and KerrySciTech services and over the summer, both organisations will work to build a new overarching umbrella brand for the collaboration. It is anticipated that the new brand, will be in place in September 2022 so stay tuned for more to come.