Bell Labs, one of the world's most renowned industrial research institutions, is to establish a major research and development centre in Ireland at a cost of €69 million.
The investment, supported by IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, will create opportunities for up to 120 researchers.
Announcing the investment yesterday, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, described it as "one of the most significant direct investments by the State in a joint corporate and academic research project".
Bell Labs' parent group, Lucent Technologies, will accommodate the centre at its facility in Blanchardstown where it already employs 500 people. The centre will account for more than €43 million of the investment and will directly employ 40 research scientists and engineers.
It will focus on a number of areas including supply chain flexibility and research into photonics, electronics and the next generation of fixed and wireless telecom networks.
The investment also includes the establishment of a Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain-Driven Research (CTVR) to be headquartered at Trinity College, Dublin.
The centre, which will provide opportunities for up to 80 researchers and entails an investment of €26 million, will involve eight other leading Irish universities and institutes of technology: University of Limerick, NUI Maynooth, Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Sligo, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, University College Cork and the National Micro-Electronics Research Centre.
The Bell Labs facility, which will be headed by Dr Lou Manzione, will exploit the innovations that emerge from the CTVR, which will be led by Dr Donal O'Mahony. The proposal is subject to EU approval but Ms Harney said no difficulties were anticipated in this regard.
The head of Science Foundation Ireland, Dr Bill Harris, said the Irish centre would be the most significant Bell Labs facility outside its New Jersey base and meant Ireland now had "one of the crown jewels in the world of industrial research".
Bell Labs is spread across more than 10 countries but the decision to choose Ireland for its latest venture was "a very easy" one, according to Dr Jeff Jaffe, its president of research and advanced technologies.
He noted that industry had moved from a model of vertical integration to horizontal integration, adding: "Ireland has really demonstrated excellence in working in this new horizontal model from the perspective of modern telecoms."
The announcement was welcomed by ICT Ireland, the representative body for the high-tech sector. "Taken in conjunction with the recent announcements by Intel and IBM, it is clear that Ireland remains an attractive location for leading global ICT companies to continue to invest in knowledge-led activities into Ireland," it said.
Bell Labs has a history of ground-breaking technology achievements, including the development of the transistor, mobile telephony and lasers. It has been granted more than 30,000 US patents since its foundation in 1925 and 11 of its researchers have won the Nobel prize.
