A Derry tapas restaurant is celebrating after being named World Food Restaurant of the Year at a nationwide awards ceremony.
El Tapas Gra, based in Waterloo Place, picked up the gong at the YesChef Ireland awards in Limerick.
A member of the local LegenDerry Food and Drink Network, the bar and restaurant serves Catalan-influenced cuisine infused with locally sourced ingredients.
Meanwhile the hugely popular Quaywest, on Derry’s Boating Club Lane, was named Ulster Seafood Restaurant of the Year.
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin has visited Derry to discover the positive impact the North West Regional Development Group is having on regional growth.
Attendees at the Guildhall meeting were updated about ongoing work between Derry City and Strabane District Council, Donegal County Council, regional strategic partners and central government to deliver economic growth, investment and environmental and social cohesion for the region.
Senior council and government representatives discussed with the Taoiseach a range of regional priorities and options for scaling up co-operation and development work on both sides of the border.
Delegates heard how, with the Irish Government’s continued support and North-South co-operation, the cross-border North West City Region can boost innovation, create jobs and contribute to a sustainable, balanced regional economy on the island of Ireland.
Members re-emphasised to the Taoiseach the Irish government’s role in supporting efforts to improve road, air, rail and sea connectivity of the region and in supporting sustainable ‘green’ growth.
Chief executive of Derry City and Strabane District Council, John Kelpie, said the meeting highlighted both Councils’ shared goals.
He added: “Whether it is in education, business or tourism, the two Councils and Government are working collaboratively to ensure what we achieve is sustainable and brings benefits and opportunity to everyone.”
The North West Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Collaborative Growth Network has recently rebranded as GEMX – Generating Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence.
The network, supported by Invest Northern Ireland through its Collaborative Growth Programme, aims to raise awareness of manufacturing and engineering within the North West, develop a pipeline of talent, and encourage collaboration between industry and education.
Leading companies – including NuPrint Technologies, AE Global, PPSL and Fleming Agri – will work together to exploit opportunities and enhance their competitive edge.
Project director Joanne Sweeney said: “We need to harness the abilities of educational establishments and ensure that they are being fully utilised by local industry.
“Through the elimination of stereotypes, we can develop an engineering pathway to inspire children and young adults and encourage them to pursue careers in an exciting, dynamic environment which is future-proof.”
Invest NI’s Collaborative Growth Programme is aimed at SME-led networks, and provides support for groups to pursue innovative collaborative projects and boost business competitiveness.
Visit Derry has joined forces with leading local firms and academics to boost the number of international business events hosted in the city.
The Ambassador Circle is a joint project between Tourism NI, Visit Derry and Visit Belfast, and part-funded through the region’s Tourism Recovery Action Plan.
It seeks to target and promote key conferences and events, and promote the North West, and Northern Ireland, as a leading business destination.
Odhran Dunne, CEO of Visit Derry, said 90% of business events come to the city through the support of a local ambassador.
He added: “The new Ambassador Circle is key to our success in attracting conferences and will act as a catalyst to inspire and motivate our local ambassadors to actively seek opportunities to host business events that will support the district’s tourism economy.”
North West firms can now boost their digital capabilities by signing up for a £1million support initiative.
The Digital Surge programme introduces small and medium-sized local businesses to a range of digital tools through workshops, mentoring, masterclasses and network cluster events.
Derry City and Strabane District Council’s head of business, Kevin O’Connor, said the NI-wide programme would complement the range of support initiatives already being offered by the Council.
He added: “The Surge Programme equips businesses with the knowledge to harness the potential of the most innovative digital tools, which have the capacity to catalyse their growth and development.
“I would really encourage local businesses to check out the range of areas being explored, from Big-Data to Machine Learning, and how they can effectively use these exciting new technologies to fast track their way to success.”
Businesses completing the programme will come away with an Innovation Roadmap and Digital Acceleration Plan and will be onward routed to more intensive supports in the ‘digital innovation ecosystem’.
Find out more about the Surge Programme here.
Global financial services firm FinTrU has been honoured for its outstanding growth in overseas sales.
The company, which has two Derry offices, won the Queen’s Award for International Trade in recognition of its global expansion.
In recent years, the Belfast-headquartered business has also created branches in New York, London, Dublin and Maastricht.
Founded in 2013, FinTrU now employs more than 1,000 people and provides tech-enabled regulatory solutions for investment banks, specialising in KYC, compliance, legal, risk and controls and operations.
Thousands of manufacturers are set to benefit from a new £50m data innovation hub led by Ulster University.
The Smart Manufacturing Data Hub will support small and medium-sized manufacturers to capture and better utilise data, helping them increase productivity, growth and sustainability.
The hub is available to manufacturers in Northern Ireland before going live for companies UK-wide, supported by 12 delivery partners.
Around 10,000 manufacturers will be assisted in developing, testing and adopting the latest data-driven technologies thanks to the hub, testbed and grant funding; approximately 13,000 jobs are also expected to be supported.
The funding comes as part of the £300 million Made Smarter Innovation Challenge, a collaboration between UK Government and industry to support the development and increased use of new and existing industrial digital technologies, including artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
Pro Vice Chancellor, Research at Ulster University, Professor Liam Maguire, said: “Made Smarter is another important project in the broader realisation of the Derry and Strabane City Deal agenda, further enhancing the attractiveness of investment and driving economic growth.”
Some of Europe’s leading young tech stars have gathered in the North West for the Innovators Under 35 Europe Festival.
This year’s event, held in Gweedore, County Donegal, celebrated a new generation of changemakers tackling society’s most pressing challenges as it emerges from the pandemic.
Since its creation, MIT Technology Review has been publishing an annual list of the best Innovators Under 35, from biotechnologists to artificial intelligence pioneers, with notable alumni including Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
The festival, which took place in the gteic hub in May, was sponsored by Derry City and Strabane District Council alongside other regional organisations and educational establishments.
“By choosing this location, we wanted to demonstrate that in our connected world, no location is off-limits when it comes to innovation,” said Connla McCann, director of the festival’s host, Aisling Events.
“The Atlantic edge – and places like it – will be the centre of the new world.”
Passengers can now fly direct from City of Derry Airport to Edinburgh, on a new service launched by Loganair.
The 55-minute direct flight will run three days a week (Tuesday, Friday and Sunday), with additional Thursday and Saturday flights during the peak summer months.
Among the guests on the inaugural flight in May was Aidan O’Kane, president of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.
He said: “From tourism to trade, this new route will be a huge boost to the North West economy, strengthening our regional links across the Irish Sea.
Derry’s cutting-edge Clinical Translational Research and Innovation Centre, C-TRIC, has showcased its work on International Clinical Trials Day.
The award-winning research facility, based at Altnagelvin Hospital, houses the Research and Development Office, Ulster University’s Personalised Medicine Centre, and the Research Nurses Office.
It connects patients directly to national and international research opportunities, and aims to improve patient care in the community.
It held an event on International Clinical Trials Day in May, which Caitríona Lavery, research nurse manager at C-TRIC, said had been an opportunity to celebrate the facility and the team behind it.
She added: “We work together to build a better healthcare future for all, providing improved patient care and outcomes for current and future patients.”