Science Park rebrand as Catalyst moves forward

Catalyst Inc is the new identity for the organisation which is now beginning a £100m investment plan aiming to support 5,000 new high quality jobs with expansion of its premises to a total of one million sqft.

The new space starts with three new buildings two of which will be in Londonderry with a strong cross-border connection and another on the existing Belfast site.

Created in 1999 to support the vision for a vibrant new knowledge economy in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Science Park has exceeded all its original targets and growth expectations by supporting the achievement of 2,600 jobs, the development of 400,000 sqft of workspace and leveraging additional private sector support and investment equating to £1million annually.

The not for profit organisation provides a home for 160 companies in science, technology and knowledge based industries with campuses in Belfast, Derry~Londonderry, Letterkenny and Ballymena is now looking forward to the next phase of development.

Tenants include Citi, Novosco, Dow, Path XL, 8over8, Wurkhouse, Taggled, IRP Commerce, Automated Intelligence, IBM and Qualcom.

“Catalyst Inc is built upon the deep belief that in Northern Ireland we have a community of innovators so powerful its people can change the world,” said CEO Norman Apsley.

“We provide the home, networks and empathy to support this talent and ambition to develop world leading products and services that will transform Northern Ireland into one of the most entrepreneurial knowledge economies in Europe.

“Everyone talks about the need to grow the economy and drive our expertise and skills in technology as it is applied to every business sector. What we have done at Catalyst Inc is to provide the right environment for that ambition to take hold and to prosper.”

Through a collaborative approach he said significant and successful partnerships had been developed.

“Our success in securing EU Interreg funding for the development of our North West campus with Letterkenny Institute of Technology is one such example.

“Now is the time to accelerate the generation and exploitation of knowledge to create competitive and compelling new products and services to sell to the world at large.”