Published: 21/06/2016 Ireland, now the second largest exporter of computer and IT services in the world and with a growing reputation for being the heart of ICT in Europe, has become the global technology hub of choice for FDI companies operating in this space. What the ICT sector means to Ireland - Over 105,000 people are employed in the technology sector in Ireland, with approximately 70% of those employed by FDI companies
- ICT Exports are worth €72 billion per annum (40% of total national exports)
- 4 of the top 5 exporters in Ireland are technology companies
Nine of the world’s top 10 ICT companies are located in Ireland and the IDA supports over 200 FDI firms in this sector. The sector’s traditional players with long-established operations – such as Intel, HP, IBM, Microsoft and Apple, have been joined by newer firms leading the way in the internet and social media revolution, including Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, PayPal, eBay and Twitter. Their arrival has firmly positioned Ireland as the internet capital of Europe. Ireland is the also the European data centre location of choice for world leaders including IBM, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, MSN and Adobe and is poised to become a global cloud centre of excellence. A number of games companies such as Big Fish, EA, Havok, DemonWare, PopCap, Zynga, Riot Games and Jolt also have a significant presence here. Ireland is home to:  10 of the top 10 global ICT companies - 9 of the top 10 global software companies
- 3 of the top 3 global security software companies
- 3 of the top 3 global enterprise software companies
- 4 of the top 5 IT services companies
- The top 10 ‘born on the internet’ companies
Contribution to Irish Exports The ICT sector accounts for €50 billion of exports from Ireland each year. A report by the Irish Exporters Association named Microsoft as the largest FDI exporting company in the 2015. Underpinning the increasingly important role played by foreign-owned ICT companies, Microsoft was followed on the Top 20 list by Google with export turnover of €17bn. Of the Top 20 companies listed in the report, nine are focused within the ICT arena, including Oracle EMEA, Dell, Intel, Kinston Technology, Sandisk International and Facebook. In 2016, global tech companies continue to target Ireland as a preferred base. The extraordinary growth of Ireland’s ICT sector and its emergence as a major international hub for digital services, is cause for celebration. Ireland now has a thriving digital community of the world’s leading international companies working with the best of Irish businesses and tech start-ups. Collaborative Research Many of the leading FDI ICT-based companies highlight the strategic importance of Irish collaborative research opportunities as a key driver of global company growth. FDI companies have enthusiastically partnered Irish Research Centres specialising in the ICT field most notably; The Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), the Insight Centre for Data Analytics (INSIGHT), the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre (LERO) and Tyndall National Institute. The Future As well as a strong multinational presence in Ireland, there is a scaling indigenous digital technology sector and opportunities now exist for greater collaboration between both, to allow the technology community become greater than the sum of its parts, enabling the Ireland to strengthen its reputation as a true global technology hub. The most exploitable opportunities for Ireland are in the area of data analytics and big data, building on existing clusters at an industry and academic research level.
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