Province Ulster | Founded 1999 | |
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Similar Titanic Quarter, Titanic Belfast, Regional Science Park, HMS Caroline, SS Nomadic | ||
Introduction to sophia and northern ireland science park
Northern Ireland Science Park Foundation Limited (or NISP) was established in March 1999 to create a self-sustaining, internationally recognised, knowledge-based science park in Northern Ireland offering a commercial and research driven centre for knowledge-based industries. The park is located in the Titanic Quarter, Queen's Island, Belfast and hosts a range of international and local technology related companies. It currently has six buildings in operation offering 210,000 square feet (20,000 m2) of workspace, with 1,500 people in 40 companies working at the Science Park. The Chief Executive is Dr Norman Apsley and 2008 marked the first year of commercial independence from Government.
Contents
- Introduction to sophia and northern ireland science park
- Map of Northern Ireland Science Park Belfast BT3 9DT UK
- The philosophy behind the northern ireland science park
- History
- Companies in the Science Park
- References
Map of Northern Ireland Science Park, Belfast BT3 9DT, UK
The philosophy behind the northern ireland science park
History
The Science Park was initially conceived under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which designated funding for such a park in Northern Ireland. The not-for-profit NISP Foundation was founded in 1999 by the University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast (with both Vice Chancellors, Gerry McKenna and George Bain being founding board members), along with representatives of the business community. Most initial funding came from UK government economic initiatives, with the intention that the park would become self-sustaining. It was planned that the 24-acre (97,000 m2) Queen's Island site would eventually be occupied by twelve buildings, including an Innovation Centre for small tech firms and start-ups, the Queen's University Institute for Electronics, Communications and Information Technologies, as well as larger companies and light manufacturing firms.
Companies in the Science Park
In November 2009 it was announced that software developers SAP were entering into strategic research collaboration with Intel at the site. At the same time, BroadSoft, which opened its European headquarters in the Science Park in 2006 and has since more than doubled its space requirement, announced further expansion to eventually bring total employment there to 23.