The Northern Ireland Science Park plans on expanding, adding 5,000 new jobs and three new buildings with an additional 1 million square feet of space. A ten-year plan for the technology hub was recently announced, targeting £100m investment.
The NISP will also be rebranded as Catalyst Inc. Norman Apsley, chief executive of Catalyst Inc, says the new name reflects the NISP's ambitions.
“We are confident that this exciting phase of our development will accelerate the attraction of international companies to Northern Ireland and continue to actively support the growth of indigenous companies. 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,” he said.
Since its creation in 1999, the not-for-profit Science Park has supported the knowledge economy in Northern Ireland. It currently houses 160 companies across campuses in Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Letterkenny and Ballymena. All the tenants are in the science, technology and knowledge based industries. These include Citi, Novosco, Dow, Path XL, Wurkhouse, Taggled, Automated Intelligence and IBM.
The NISP has had significant success, exceeding both targets and growth expectations. Tenants have achieved an impressive average of 30 percent per year, and the Science Park has added a total of 2,600 jobs to Northern Ireland’s economy. ')}
