Ireland set for IT and technology innovation

17:35 19th December 2008

A massive cash injection by the government, industry and educational and professional bodies is set to create three centres of IT excellence.

Over the next five years, £55 million will be pumped into the initiative to create centres for science, engineering and technology (CSETs) innovation.

Director general of SFI Professor Frank Gannon commented: "These CSETs have been independently verified as playing an important role in building a world-class research system in Ireland, as well as linking successfully with major multinational companies and providing an attractor for multinational investment in research in Ireland."

He added that this was one of a range of initiatives to push Ireland towards the goal of becoming a knowledge-based economy that made the best use of technological advances and IT systems.

Dublin will be the 2012 City of Science, it was announced last month and will host the Euroscience Open Forum, which is the focal point of the year and is expected to attract 8,000 delegates and 50,000 members of the public.