The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton today announced details of a €1.2 million research programme in the Cloud Computing Technology Research Centre, aimed at helping to make Ireland a world leader in this fast-growing area, and at making a significant contribution to jobs and economic growth.
The funding will be allocated over 12 months to a consortium of Higher Education Institutions to carry out the initial research programme of Centre.
Led by Dublin City University, the research consortium which includes University College Cork, and Athlone Institute of Technology with input from the Innovation Value Institute at NUIM, will use the funding provided by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation through Enterprise Ireland to work with a group of software companies to establish ways to generate business and profit from cloud computing.
Minister Bruton said: "A key part of this Government's plan for growth and jobs is identifying areas where we believe Ireland has distinct advantages compared to other countries, and taking steps necessary to ensure that we realise our potential in those areas. Cloud computing is one such sector, and the Government believes that between our climate, skills base, telecoms connectivity and existing strengths in ICT, we have the potential to reap substantial benefits in terms of jobs and growth from the global expansion of this sector.
"However this growth won't happen automatically, and through the Action Plan for Jobs we will implement a series of measures to encourage the growth of the sector. Today I am very pleased to announce the initial programme of industry-led research in the Cloud Computing Technology Research Centre. This Centre will follow international best practice in bringing academic researchers together with industry so as to ensure that our research strengths are targeted at answering questions that will help companies create viable business ideas and ultimately jobs in this area."
Gearoid Mooney, director of ICT commercialisation at Enterprise Ireland, said: "Having the capacity to do computing this way is one thing but software companies have to figure out how to make best use of this technology. While cloud computing has opened up many opportunities for software businesses there are enough unknowns to make research necessary. These are the issues that the Cloud Computing Technology Centre will help Irish based companies address."
Prof Brian MacCraith President of DCU, the lead research partner, said: "As Ireland's University of Enterprise, DCU is delighted to lead a research consortium that will provide solutions for industry-defined problems in a technological area of global importance. This partnership between enterprise and the Higher Institutes of Education will play a key role in economic development and contribute to Ireland's recovery and, most importantly, job creation."
The Cloud Computing Technology Centre is the latest of 10 such thematically based centres to be established jointly by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland.
TechCentral Reporters