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CEED

Cultivating Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Ethos of CEED

The Centre for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (CEED) located in the Tom Crean Business Incubation Centre, plays a key role in fostering and developing the entrepreneurial mindset as part of the innovative ecosystem of the Institute of Technology Tralee.  We practice and promote a strategic policy of seamless integration and real time engagement between business and social communities, academics and students offering strategic support and intervention with their business ideas and knowledge transfer.  We aim to become an international model of best practice which researches and cultivates the entrepreneurial mind-set through our philosophy of collaboration, inclusion and innovation with the wider business and academic communities.

We have a particular focus on research into entrepreneurial learning, incubation and new venture creation and sustainability. It brings together academics, spinout enterprises, student entrepreneurs, start-up businesses and researchers for the study and practice of innovation, entrepreneurship and enterprise. The CEED’s research agenda spans across all departments within the Institute in order to stimulate an entrepreneurial spirit amongst both staff and students. CEED currently hosts four post graduate candidates in the area of entrepreneurship at both masters and PhD levels. In  2013 CEED was awarded EU-FP7 funding as the leader of the ‘Entrepreneurship Track’ work package in the successful IT, Tralee project ‘Network for the transfer of knowledge on traditional foods to SMEs’ under the [KBBE 2013.2.2-02] call theme.

Collaboration with the other 4 research centres at the Institute, provides us with the unique opportunity of positioning ourselves as a centre with a cutting edge entrepreneurial insight and approach in all of our activities. In working to achieve its aims, the following shared values guide the centre’s behaviour and decision-making:

  • Engagement: with the economic and social life of our localities, regionally, nationally and globally at an applied and basic research level.
  • Participation: by staff, researchers and students, in our communal and intellectual life, and our decision-making processes; recognising our mutual obligations.
  • Collaboration: being an executive partner, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally; being responsive as well as proactive; delivering what we say we will do.

Portfolio of Services

CEED offers a range of both bespoke and generic solutions through its inclusive portfolio of services which operate in the following four academies at a local, regional, national and international level:

  • Basic Research Academy
  • Commercial/Academic Academy
  • Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy
  • Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Education Academy