Rising energy prices, growing awareness of the consequences of climate change and the increased demand for greener and more environmentally sustainable goods and services has generated a major demand worldwide for technologies that allow goods and services to be produced in a suitable manner that reduces the use of increasingly expensive fossil fuel based energy and is much more environmentally friendly.
This dynamic is spawning a rapidly growing business segment in Clean Technology. In response to fast changing corporate and consumer needs IDA has formed a dedicated Clean Technology Division aimed at winning new investments and technologies for Ireland in the broad Clean Technology arena. Such investments open Ireland to new clients while increasing the potential to bring material benefits to our existing clients and by extension the overall Irish economy.
IDA is working with many stakeholders as Team Ireland is key to winning new investments in Clean Technology. Early engagement in the marketplace by IDA has been very positive and we are confident of winning new and exciting investments in this critical emerging sector.
Services activities are now the prime drivers of growth in the developed and developing economies of the world creating over 60% of global employment and generating almost 70% of value added in OECD countries. Ireland is now a successful services economy with two-thirds of the workforce engaged in services and ranks as the 10th highest exporter of services in the world.1
Ireland, like the most advanced economies must invest time and resources in developing its national competencies in Services Innovation.
IDA has contributed significantly to Ireland's success in the services space by winning pure play services investment from leading companies such as Google, Accenture, Starwood, Hertz and many others and by supporting a 'Servicisation' process within traditional product-based companies such as Apple, IBM, Pfizer and Cameron. Over recent years services' activities have accounted for an increasing level of overall IDA investment.
In recognition of the increasing significance of services FDI for IDA and the often unique properties of innovation in services, IDA established a specific Services Innovation Team in 2008. The purpose of the Team is to improve IDA's understanding of the services space, especially innovation in services and to support IDA clients through information, networking, case studies and financial incentives.
A new technology revolution is developing. Disparate technologies, companies and industries are coming together to create a new breed of richer products and services. This convergence will be ubiquitous and will offer potentially significant economic rewards for countries who successfully take advantage of these developments.
Ireland is home to a variety of the world's most inventive companies across a broad spectrum of sectors including Life Sciences, ICT and Services. Thirteen of the world's fifteen top pharmaceutical companies, fifteen of the world's top twenty-five medical technology companies and eight of the top ten ICT companies all have significant operations in Ireland. Ireland is therefore in an ideal position to exploit a myriad of new Convergent Technology opportunities.
Convergence is a key component of Ireland's 'Smart Economy' and IDA is working towards the emergence of Ireland as one of the world's leading locations for convergence-led investments. Through a defined strategy for winning such investments, IDA is working closely with our sister agencies and partners, and replicating our success to date in winning convergence investments such as:
TRIL – The Technology Research for Independent Living Project is a collaboration between Intel, Trinity College Dublin, NUI Galway and University College Dublin sharing ethnography and usability engineering, neuroscience, cognitive science, clinical modelling, wireless sensor development, hardware engineering and embedded software development in order to develop systems enabling the elderly to live independently.
Ireland has the necessary requirements to be a global leader in convergent activities. Success in this emerging area will not only help the continued transformation of Ireland's FDI base but create new products, processes and markets all to be served from here. To complement this, Ireland possesses a world class cohort of emerging indigenous companies across a range of strategic sectors. IDA is working in partnership with its sister agencies including Science Foundation Ireland to establish a broad convergent technology focus.