Stranorlar’s new digital hub will provide local workers with hotdesks, reliable internet connectivity, access to local supports and more.
A new digital hub has opened today (17 September) in Stranorlar in Co Donegal. DigiHub at the Base Enterprise Centre aims to support the growth of ICT and digital businesses in Donegal.
The hub will provide the area’s workers, start-ups and entrepreneurs with hotdesk and workspaces on flexible arrangements, as well as office units of various sizes, training facilities and a range of meeting rooms.
The DigiHub was developed as part of the Digiwest programme with funding from the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Connected Hubs Fund, which was launched earlier this year to help promote remote working around the country. The hub is also supported by Donegal County Council and the Western Development Commission.
The development of digital hubs in rural areas is part of Our Rural Future, the Government’s five-year strategy to revitalise towns and villages, promote remote working and ensure balanced regional development.
Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphries, TD, who launched the new Donegal facility today, said she hoped the hub would entice digital entrepreneurs to move to the Stranorlar area.
“As we phase out restrictions put in place during Covid-19, it’s more relevant than ever to invest in co-working spaces for those who wish to remain in their home counties and avoid long commutes to Dublin and larger cities,” she added.
“The launch of today’s hub in the heart of Stranorlar highlights the appetite for hybrid working in regional Ireland to remain. This fine facility is one of four digital hubs along the western seaboard that received almost €650,000 under my Department’s Rural Regeneration Development Fund.
“All four of these hubs are members of the Connected Hubs initiative, which is the department’s platform of mapping together all of the hubs across the country so that they belong to one single network.”
The Connected Hubs network currently has more than 140 members nationwide.
The Stranorlar hub, which received €67,ooo in funding, will have 23 desks available for short-term and casual hire, while the hub’s offices can accommodate more than 20 tenants. Business units will be made available for permanent hire with the capacity to accommodate an additional 50 tenants.
The hub’s range of supports for start-ups will include one-to-one business mentoring, as well as access to mentoring through a network of support businesses via the Ballybofey and Stranorlar Chamber of Commerce.
It will also provide workers with networking and informal learning opportunities, promotion on its social media channels and it will offer them information on agencies and organisations for assistance.
Internet access, which is a key concern for many remote workers living in rural areas, will be provided by Siro, a joint venture by the ESB and Vodafone to provide homes and businesses with fibre-optic gigabit connectivity.
Siro’s partnership with DigiHub in Stranorlar will bring the total number of remote working hubs around the country using its service to 16.
Kieran Doherty, chair of Basicc, the local social enterprise that manages the Base Enterprise Centre, said: “In order for the area to flourish, we have to be able to connect to any part of the world instantly and gigabit connectivity means that we have the same world-class broadband that is available in international hubs like Tokyo or Singapore.”
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