Just when it looked like data was becoming a dirty word for Irish technology investment, yet another US multinational has opened the doors of a brand new data operation on the edge of Dublin.

New York Stock Exchange-listed StorageTek, which officially introduced a 12-strong operation in Blackrock last week, may not be directly comparable to the many ailing data centre operations that have hit the headlines recently, but the firm's undisclosed investment nonetheless bucks the data trend.

In Dublin last week to attend the launch, StorageTek chairman, president and chief executive Mr Pat Martin was bullish in his assertion that the firm was on to a winner, basing his confidence on a predicted explosion in digital data production in the next five years. In the Republic, the firm offers a mixture of disc, automated tape and storage networking solutions.