A MAJOR new strategy to create up to 30,000 “green collar” jobs by pushing Ireland to the forefront of the “digital technology revolution” was unveiled by the Government yesterday.
The first part of the plan will see telecoms equipment company Intune Networks build a new “smart network” across Ireland, with the creation of 350 high-end jobs over the next three years.
Called Exemplar, the fibre-optic-based network is designed to cope with the huge increase in internet traffic in future decades.
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan said the Government’s aim was to promote Ireland as a “test bed location where you can deliver the latest green technologies”, adding that its target of 30,000 jobs was “absolutely achievable and credible”.
Mr Ryan outlined six target areas that he said the Government would concentrate on developing in the next decade as part of its bid to rejuvenate the economy.
As well as the Exemplar network, Mr Ryan said the Government would prioritise the development of energy-efficient cloud computing data centres; an International Content Services Centre (ICSC) to act as a broker between content developers and distributors; the “smart” electricity network recently announced by ESB; the WorkFlow project that uses web-enabled traffic sensors to allow commuters to choose optimum travel times; and Smart Bay, a project by IBM Ireland and Intel that will facilitate marine research on a nationwide basis, beginning with its pilot in Galway.
Many of the target areas will utilise the concept of the “internet of things”, through which everyday devices are fitted with web- enabled sensors.
Work has begun on all of the six “technology actions” highlighted yesterday. Mr Ryan said funding for the projects would come from a range of sources, including the Government’s €500 million Innovation Fund, industry funding and contributions from the exchequer.
The Minister said there was a need to stimulate the economy in order for it to recover.
The Government estimates that the building of the Intune network – which Mr Ryan said would allow businesses to “sell to China from Tubbercurry at lightning speed” – will eventually create 5,000 direct jobs and a further 5,000 indirectly. Positioning Ireland as an attractive location for cloud computing, a low-energy method of storing data remotely, could create a further 10,000 jobs.
It said the establishment of an ICSC has the potential to support more than 1,000 digital content companies currently located in Ireland, generating another 10,000 jobs. Legislation on intellectual property rights, including new taxation measures, is likely to be introduced to facilitate the centre, which will be modelled along the lines of the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin.
The Association for Alternative Operators in the Communications Market said it welcomed the Government’s recognition of the need to prepare for growing internet traffic, but said the Exemplar network was “not a panacea for the problems of the exchange-to-home part of the network” controlled by Eircom.
Intune Networks
Founded in 1999, Intune Networks has been quietly building its reputation, developing technology and gathering global patents in its bid to make the fibre-optic communications infrastructure more efficient.
It was established by UCD graduates John Dunne and Tom Farrell and has since received €25 million in private venture funding to date from both Irish and overseas investors. Despite its relatively quiet ascent, the firm has worked up a client list that includes MIT, the European Space Agency, Nasa, and the US Defense and Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The company, which is based in ParkWest in Dublin, has developed a means to help solve some of the biggest problems facing the development of next-generation fibre-optic communications networks – inefficiency and capacity issues.
Intune has found a way to use "tuneable", or different coloured, light from lasers to carry telecoms traffic, which will not only improve the performance and capacity of a network, but also reduce power consumption.
The firm has been working with the Government to develop a programmable fibre optic platform – an important step in building an exemplar smart network.
"Even though Intune Networks will be leading a lot of the design and construction of the exemplar network, this will be a pretty broad partnership," says Tim Fritzley, Intune's chief executive.
"The Exemplar Network isn't Intune doing something for the Government, it's actually the Government hiring Intune to create a next-generation network that can be used by a variety of multinationals and Irish technology companies."
Ciara O'Brien
