It’s been an extraordinary year so far as we have just gone past the mid-point. The Irish weather has thrown up extremes that haven’t been witnessed for generations. The blizzards of early March seem a long and distant memory as the current heatwave continues to break records. Fortunately, the business and technology landscapes in Ireland have been much calmer, with growth continuing at a steady pace.
Recent significant jobs announcements in the tech sector demonstrate the buoyancy in the market. While many of these roles are still destined for Dublin, such as Amazon Web Service’s recent announcement of 1,000 jobs, we’re also seeing some stronger regional jobs growth, with Abtron set to create 350 new jobs in Sligo and Fexco bringing 175 more jobs to Kerry. In fact, June was the best performing month to date with 3,400 new jobs announced across the country.
Technology PR
It’s been a fantastic year so far for the Comit team, specialists in Tech PR, as we’ve welcomed some great new clients on board, while also seeing our other valued clients grow and prosper in a variety of exciting ways. Paradyn has just announced that it plans to double its workforce over the next two years as it adds 40 new jobs as part of its ambitious growth strategy. Global tech leader, Ricoh, is also doubling its commercial sales team in Ireland to meet the rising demand for its products and services.
While many new jobs have been created, we’re also witnessing substantial investments by clients looking to expand their operations here. In April, Comtrade Digital Services officially opened the doors of their impressive new Global headquarters in Dublin, strategically located to take advantage of the talent and growth opportunities that Ireland offers. Just a few days later, we also announced the €1.6M upgrade that Esri Ireland made to its Irish HQ to support its development plans. In addition to investments in people and premises, clients are continuing to invest in innovative new services to bring to market too. Novi’s investment of €160K in its new Cyberview service will help to protect its customer base against the ever-growing risk of cybercrime.
Viktor Kovacevic and Dejan Cusic at the official opening of Comtrade Digital Services new global headquarters in Sandyford, Dublin.
The benefits of investing strategically in your business become obvious when impressive results quickly follow. Datapac’s investment in its service capabilities in 2017 was rewarded when it saw their managed services revenues grow by a record €5.5M, as reported extensively earlier this year.
In addition to the opportunities that exist locally, Irish companies are continuing to make their mark globally. Diaceutics raised €4.3M in new funding to allow it to increase its global footprint and accelerate product development. It has also teamed up with Intel and Lenovo to use AI to improve the diagnostics and treatment of patients across the world. Exciting times indeed and we’re always thrilled at Comit HQ to see great technology being used to make such a positive impact.
Speaking of innovative new services, we were delighted to be involved in the launch of PayPal’s fantastic new offering which has seen it scrap fees for Euro money transfers between friends and family in Ireland to encourage more consumers here to turn away from cash and embrace faster mobile payments. As Louise Phelan, VP at PayPal, commented at the launch, “We have these incredibly powerful computers in our pockets, which should make our lives easier.”
Louise Phelan, PayPal, leads a protest against cash on the streets of Dublin.
Tech events
There were some fantastic business and tech events held in Ireland in the first half of this year. FutureScope, organised by Dublin BIC, explored a variety of interesting tech trends including the Internet of Things, data analytics and AI, digital transformation and technologies driving the future world. It provided a unique space for entrepreneurs and multinationals to collaborate. Earlier this year, Ireland’s entrepreneurs and start-ups were also the focus of HBAN’s All-Island Conference which attracted 300 current and prospective business angels. Events of this nature are vital to the health and future of the Irish tech sector.
Keynote speaker, Martina Larkin, World Economic Forum pictured with Michael Culligan, Dublin BIC at FutureScope 2018.
Awards, and the ceremonies that accompany them, are another worthy barometer of the tech and business scene here. In 2018, we’ve been delighted to see a number of winners among our clients, including Logicalis, Data Solutions and Datapac at the Irish Tech Excellence awards; as well as Pure Telecom who won best broadband provider at the National Consumer Awards.
Last, but certainly not least, it’s great to see the positive focus on CSR activities that so many of our clients, and the wider tech industry, are involved with. Social innovation is one area that is particularly exciting and offers up endless opportunities. We’ve been privileged to partner with YSI (Young Social Innovators) and witness at first hand the young people that they enable, who are so driven to change the world for good! We were also delighted to see YSI’s good deeds being supported through the generous donation of an environmentally friendly technology solution by another great client, AMI.
Rachel Collier, Philip McMichael, and Faye Thomas at the announcement that AMI has donated €30,000 of IT equipment to YSI.
Tech PR jobs
As we look forward to the rest of the year, we hope this gives you a small flavour of the many exciting projects and announcements that we’ve been involved with so far this year. If you would like to join us and build a career in this vibrant and rewarding sector, have a look at the latest job openings for a Junior Account Executive and Account Executive that we currently have on offer.
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