IBM WILL create up to 200 jobs in Dublin over the next three years at a new research centre.
The €66 million development in its Smarter Cities Technology Centre, which will be located at IBM’s Mulhuddart site, will be assisted by the IDA.
The centre aims to design systems that will help cities manage and connect transport links, communications infrastructure and water and energy networks.
As part of the centre’s work, a team of experts will collaborate with city authorities, universities, and businesses, as well as experts from IBM Research and the company’s Software Development Lab in Ireland, to develop and commercialise ways of making city systems more connected, sustainable and intelligent.
The announcement was made yesterday morning by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe, on his first official day in his new portfolio.
“The decision taken by IBM underscores the Irish Government’s commitment to providing an environment where industry and academia can collaborate to create economic growth through innovation and through research,” he said.
“This particular project illustrates how IDA Ireland, working with globally integrated businesses such as IBM, can help create the Irish smart economy while also assisting highly innovative companies such as IBM to achieve their business goals.”
The new jobs will be highly skilled positions in research and development and software development.
“The announcement is very good news for us in IBM Ireland,” said Michael Daly, country general manager for IBM Ireland. “The roles will be involved in developing solutions for cities, and we’ll have people in research and development. We’ll have people developing software – and subject matter experts, who will go out and implement those solutions in various cities.”
Mr Daly said IBM was complementing existing work, with about 70 people in IBM Ireland already working on some of the elements that the centre would examine. Extra people would be brought on board “reasonably soon”.
Mr O’Keeffe described the announcement as “a good start” to his term as Minister.
“Looking at the graduates that are going to be employed there, 65 per cent will be PhDs, and this is the type of industry we want to develop and continue to grow in Ireland,” he said.
