Gaoth Dobhair in the Donegal Gaeltacht is to host the Innovators Under 35 Europe Festival in May of this year.
It is the first time the annual event, which is organised by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Review and showcases the work of "young European visionaries", is coming to Ireland.
Since it was founded in 1899, the MIT Technology Review has been publishing an annual list of the top innovators under the age of 35, with alumni including Google Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and Tesla Motors Co-Founder JB Straubel.
This year's event is a rebooting of the festival after a gap of almost two years caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers say it will "celebrate a new generation of changemakers who are striving to solve society's most pressing challenges as we begin to emerge from the Covid pandemic."
The festival is a platform to showcase achievements in biotechnology and medicine, computer and electronics, hardware, software, Internet, artificial intelligence, robotics, telecommunications, nanotechnology and materials, energy and transportation.
Young innovators will meet in Gaoth Dobhair over the two-day event and also hear from world leaders in innovation on the "transformative power of tech in creating a better world for all."
Applications for the festival are now open to people under 35 at the time of the event.
They must be from Europe and have an innovative project that they believe will transform the world.
A committee of judges made up of experts from leading universities and companies will select the 35 winning candidates.
The competition also recognises five different categories of innovators: inventors, entrepreneurs, visionaries, humanitarians and pioneers.
This year's event is being sponsored by Údarás na Gaeltachta, North West City Region Councils of Derry City and Strabane District Council and Donegal County Council, NUI Galway, Catalyst, Open University, Unosquare and Atlantic Technological University.
