NWRA welcomes EU ‘Regional Innovation Valley’ designation

RIV designation aims to drive innovation and growth

The Northern and Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) has welcomed the designation of Ireland’s Northern and Western region as a Regional Innovation Valley (RIV) under the European Commission’s New European Innovation Agenda initiative.

Regional Innovation Valleys (RIVs) aim to strengthen and advance European innovation ecosystems, connecting all EU territories, to address Europe’s burning societal challenges, and to foster stronger cohesion across the European Union.

The NWRA said the designation will enhance the Assembly’s ability to coordinate research, innovation and policies while addressing regional challenges. The Northern and Western region comprises of counties Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan.

The Southern Region, the Eastern and Midland Region also received the designation meaning that all three Irish regions will benefit from the initiative.

The RIV designation will provide an opportunity for collaborative working within a network of 151 similarly designated regions across Europe in developing their potential as hubs of innovation and securing economic growth.

Specifically, the aim is to harness the potential of deep-tech innovation across different EU territories, address the innovation divide, strengthen innovation ecosystems, and bring together less and more innovative regions to address reducing reliance on fossil fuels, increasing global food security, mastering the digital transformation (including cybersecurity), improving healthcare and achieving circularity.

A key component of the RIV initiative is a matchmaking process to facilitate connections between enterprises, researchers, and public institutions, create partnerships, provide access to a pool of experts and mentors and match innovative projects with potential investors and funding sources to accelerate their development and implementation.