The challenge
- Technology was transforming financial services, and Fexco was investing to develop and deliver solutions for its customers.
- The company set out to use collaboration with industry, higher education and the public sector for both continuous innovation and its long-term strategy.
The collaboration
- Fexco established a €3m research collaboration with Science Foundation Ireland and University College Cork — FINTECHNEXT — bringing research expertise into the organisation. That collaboration is Fexco's, SFI's and UCC's; IRDG was not a party to it.
- Catherine Evans, whose role focused on building strategic innovation partnerships, describes the IRDG network as a single funnel of indigenous and international companies connected with the policy and funding agencies.
What the account reports
- The account says that through its engagement with IRDG the company was able to accelerate and enhance its R&D and pinpoint key partnerships.
- Collaboration is described as a strategic building block rather than a source of funds, with research feeding back into higher-education curricula and future skills.