COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, December 14, 2009

QUESTION NO.15

QUESTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

To ask the Manager to provide a further update on the 'Intellectual Enterprise Zone' initiative, including details of the number of participants  to date, categorised by professional discipline; and to any advise on proposals to extend the initiative including establishment of ‘hot-desk’ facilities in other parts of the county?

REPLY:

It is proposed to set up a network of intellectual enterprise zones throughout the county where individuals can use the space on a ‘time share basis’ to run and operate their business and where persons on the live register can develop added value skills.  In tandem with the physical space it is proposed to develop a virtual business campus or intellectual enterprise zones with a view to creating new business opportunities.  This space will also afford participants to engage in a community of practice and network with like minded individuals.  The web presence is an interactive space where participants in the programme can feedback their observations, ask questions, register for various training programmes, interact with colleagues and book time/space in the Intellectual Enterprise Zone work space.

The physical zones will be clustered at key locations throughout the County, namely in town centre locations with access to public infrastructure such as the LUAS.  The zones will initially be located in public buildings such as County Hall, Tallaght and the Civic Centre in Clondalkin and other community facilities throughout the County.

 Number of participants -

To date there are over 120 participants involved in the initiative.  These individuals have registered on the Intellectual Enterprise Zones website (www.iez.ie) and have full access secure areas such as the forum and office space booking system.  When the final mailshot to potential (2,500), participants is completed this week, we expect this number to rise to 150.

 Training update -

A dedicated ‘Start Your Own Business’ course was arranged for IEZ participants with our partners FáS. Interest in the training course was very high and the course quickly became oversubscribed. Feedback from members attending the course has been very positive and it is hoped that an additional dedicated course will be run early in the New Year.  Business-related seminars are also being offered and are be hosted by our partner, the Synergy centre in the IT Tallaght.

One to one and group meetings are ongoing with the partcipants to monitor progress.

An interagency steering group has been established whivh will meet on a monthly basis to ensure best use of the resouces available from each agency.

 The breakdown of participants is as follows –

IT professionals – 20%

Financial professionals – 18%

Construction professionals – 15%

Company Owner\Director – 10%

Advertising\Sales\Marketing professionals – 6%

Consultants (various) – 5%

Art\Drama professionals – 5%

Teachers – 5%

Customer Service managers – 4%

Health Care professionals – 2%

Print professionals – 2%

Others – 8%

 Additional office facilities -

Most of the participant activity to date has been web based and the usage of the physical space and associated facilities by participants has been somewhat limited to date. This use will continue to be monitored to establish the need for, and best use of, additional/similar facilities as part of the roll out of the project to other areas/cohorts.