Ireland’s is a top location for connecting the best minds in economics.
Irish annual export is €35 billion.
Ireland is at the heart of Europe’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and software sector. As one of the top priorities of our economy, Ireland’s ICT industry is rich in expertise, innovation and development — while Dublin has quickly become known as one of the tech start-up capitals of Europe.
ICT in Ireland means hosting eight out of the top 10 global information technology companies (like HP, IBM and Apple) as well as creative game companies like Big Fish, EA and Jolt.
The ICT sector in Ireland attracts global talent as well as homegrown researchers, developers, and entrepreneurs. High quality technical talent is readily available in the nation, due in part to the strong partnerships forged between government, industry and third-level institutions.
The ICT sector has been growing in Ireland ever since IBM opened here in 1956; it now employs over 3,200 people across a broad range of businesses including R&D, software development, supply chain management and technical support.
According to Enterprise Ireland, Ireland are the second largest exporter of computer and IT services in the world, just behind China.
Also according to Enterprise Ireland, Dublin is Europe’s leading hub of innovative games companies with Big Fish, EA, Havok, DemonWare, PopCap, Zynga, Riot Games and Jolt all having a significant presence here.
Ten out of ten of the top ‘born on the internet’ companies have a presence here, including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Airbnb. They are all located in Dublin in the waterfront area now known locally as ‘The Silicon Docks’.
Ireland has attracted key international players; Dublin, for example, has drawn many leading organisations. However, there are a large number of companies across other regions in Ireland too. Sectoral clusters are located in the Midwest (Limerick and surrounding areas) and the southeast (Waterford/Kilkenny), while Cork plays a key role as the home of Apple Inc EMEA HQ.
Among the 900+ ICT & software companies based throughout Ireland, star players include:
Adobe
Airbnb
Apple
Facebook
Google
LinkedIn
Microsoft
Oracle
Salesforce
SAP
Twitter
Companies spotlight:
Apple
Apple Inc. employs over 6,000 people at its European headquarters, based in Cork. Among other priorities, Apple HQ focuses on customer care, iTunes, finance, localisation, logistics and organises the supply of products to more than 147 countries.
Google Ireland employs over 8,000 people from over 75 different countries, speaking 70 different languages. The sales team supports over 100 markets, while the engineering team is responsible for a fleet of data centres across Europe (among the most energy efficient in the world).
Microsoft
With a campus in Leopardstown in Dublin, Microsoft employs 2,000 people of over 71 nationalities. Services include everything from software development, testing and localisation to operations, finance, HR and sales & marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Technology Ireland, an Association within IBEC (Irish Business and Employers Confederation) representing the ICT, Digital and Software Technology sector
Irish Computer Society (ICS)
Cyber Ireland
Artificial Intelligence Ireland (AI Ireland)
Research/innovation centres
INSIGHT – Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centre for data analytics
ADAPT – Global Centre of Excellence for Digital Content funded by the SFI
Tyndall National Institute – Excellence in ICT research
LERO – Irish Software Research Centre funded by the SFI
CeADAR – Centre for Applied Data Analytics & Machine Intelligence
Learnovate – Digital Learning and Innovation Centre
Academia
Unrivalled knowledge centres attract talent from around the globe
An image of the plinth in trinity college
Ireland’s universities are at the forefront of ICT and software. As a result, strong co-operative links to the industry have been developed. The combined power of these centres of learning means Ireland has one of the youngest and most educated workforces in Europe. Just some of these educational institutions comprise of:
University College Dublin (UCD)
Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
University College Cork (UCC)
University of Limerick (UL)
National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)
Institute of Technology Sligo (IT Sligo)
Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT)
With over 1,000 high growth multinational companies choosing Ireland as their strategic European base, as well as seven universities, numerous teaching hospitals and research centres, Ireland is in a strong place to let your IT business succeed.