The National Digital Research Centre was established in 2007 to become a leading centre for translational research - translating research ideas from late research to commercial potential – in the digital media field. The NDRC is run under a Concession agreement with the Liberty Consortium which won the competition to set up the NDRC. The Liberty Consortium comprises five third level institutes (TLI’s) in Dublin - UCD, TCD, DCU, the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology – IADT - and the National College of Art and Design - NCAD, which are represented on the Board of the NDRC.
The NDRC collaborates with research bodies and commercial companies on joint-venture translational research projects in the digital media field in the development of innovative new products and services aiming to address social and commercial needs. The four main target areas for research are –
i) entertainment
ii) healthcare
iii) sustainable energy
iv) education
The NDRC invests in a combination of large “Catalyser” projects and small “LaunchPad” projects, spanning timescales of between 6 months to 24 months from development to commercialisation stage, and then to the setting up of start-ups to market project outputs.
Full details of the NDRC as well as information on its project portfolios is available on the NDRC website - http://www.ndrc.ie/.