Ireland – Europe’s next tech hub

Most of the world’s technology leaders are now competing with Ireland since the region has a balanced mix of global companies and innovative indigenous firms. Besides, the Irish tech industry holds 13% of the country’s GDP and employs approx. 2,10,000 professionals.

1. Dublin as the centre of tech companies
With the favourable taxation system, innovative and supportive business environment, Dublin is not only the EMEA headquarters for the companies like Google, Slack, Facebook, Dropbox, LinkedIn, and Zendesk but also home to several start-ups. Besides, Dublin enjoys the advantage in terms of extraordinary talent from the EU and beyond.

2. Strategic business location
As Ireland is a fast-paced economy, it’s a wise decision to invest in the country. Not only this, *Ireland has the most favourable tax regimes in the world, attracting hundreds of foreign companies to locate here. This increases the demand for a highly educated and flexible workforce to enable global business strategy. Ireland is also considered to be the most globally connected country in the world.

3. Welcomes overseas talent
Ireland is famous for its business-friendly environment which not only supports the smooth functioning of existing companies but also motivates new companies to set up their operations. Besides, IDA’s visa and work permit assistance programs and welcoming Irish citizens promote multiculturalism thereby providing opportunities to people who plan to relocate to Europe.

4. Ideal office spaces available
In Ireland, with an aim to expand their European presence at limited investment, the companies are purchasing spaces as satellite and micro-offices i.e., smaller offices dispersed across the city. Besides, large companies seeking sizeable facilities are branching out to less densely populated areas of the Dublin suburbs or in the cities like Galway, Cork, and Limerick.

5. Brexit effect
In the wake of Brexit, the companies based on their investment criteria have shortlisted Ireland as their EMEA headquarters and this has proven to be the most significant factor in the country’s growth in the technology sector.

6. Irish Research and Development
Irish research and development centres contribute to corporate research projects with public funding. This public research further complements the private research groups, which are also financially supported through IDA’s grant support and Ireland’s 25% R&D tax credit.

7. The Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN)
This is a partnership between foremost researchers in material science and industry to devise the latest materials and technology for multiple sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, ICT and many more. In addition, this is one of the largest research institutions based in Trinity College Dublin and the country’s leading nanoscience institute.

8. The Insight Centre for Data Analytics
The entity combines the skills of well-experienced researchers with the knowledge of industry leaders to build analytics solutions and next-generation data acquisition for various application streams.
Besides, the entity is one of the largest data analytics centres in the European region. Primarily, it undertakes high-impact research, extracts valuable information from Big Data to provide innovative industry-oriented technology solutions, enables better decision-making and hence leads to the betterment of society.

9. The Irish Software Engineering Research Centre (LERO)
The organisation is responsible to bring together major software engineering teams working in a coordinated centre of research excellence. This is to provide a strong industry focus and unified direction on Evolving Critical Systems. It works in various application domains such as driverless cars to artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, smart communities, agriculture tech, government tech and health tech.

10. Tyndall National Institute
A European leading research centre that is known for being the largest research facility of its kind in Ireland. This research centre holds excellence in ICR Research, Photonics and Micro and Nanosystems. Their core research areas include:

• Smart sensors and systems

• Optical communication systems

• Mixed-signal and analogue circuit design

• Microelectronic and photonic integration

• Semiconductor wafer fabrication

• Nanomaterials and device processing

In 2008, Mastercard set up its Irish office and since then the number of people employed by the company in Dublin has increased by 880%. Given the growth, the company has bought extra space in Mountainview headquarters in Leopardstown on lease till 2026 for their growing number of staff.

Based on the facts, Dublin has become the new home to tech companies and is also set to be Mastercard’s Technology Hub* for the European region with a plan to create 1,500 jobs over the next three years and a new campus site in Leopardstown. Since the company is a leader in payments technology, it aims to expand its workforce with significant investments in artificial intelligence, blockchain, cybersecurity, user experience teams, and many more sectors. Broadly, the company plans to recruit technologists with adequate development and software skills to work on impactful and cutting-edge technology projects.

In fact, due to its strong production and exports by the pharmaceuticals and IT sector, the Irish economy has proved to be one of the best performers in Europe in the most uncertain times of COVID-19.
In a nutshell, since the UK economy is experiencing uncertainty around Brexit, there are a lot more opportunities for upcoming tech businesses to call Ireland their European home.

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