IBM is to create 100 software engineering jobs in Dublin, Cork and Galway as part of a €25m investment that will focus on intelligent software, cloud computing, environmental protection and maritime affairs.
The Ireland Lab is one of more than 80 IBM R&D laboratories around the world providing intelligent software that serves business purposes in many industries such as healthcare, energy, telecommunications, transportation, retail and public services.
These software engineers will focus on designing enterprise cloud computing software, as well as service management and database software with business analytic capabilities.
“Today’s announcement highlights Ireland as an important place to help fulfill our global research, development and business strategy,” said Michael Daly, general manager, IBM Ireland. “The software will be standardised and customised by customer demands.”
Today, enterprise computing software is commonly used as a service. Earlier in the year, IBM and the Marine Institute Ireland announced a SmartBay program using an ensemble of cloud computing software to monitor wave conditions, marine life and pollution levels in Galway Bay. It turns mountains of data into intelligence and helps with fishermen activities and future development of the bay.
IBM will expand the lab in three main areas, including information development, database and cloud computing software.
This will involve establishing a new software development team in Dublin to work on the creation and testing of the next generation of IBM’s DB2 database software, which is used to gather and analyse information about their business and subsequently make informed business decisions.
This new team builds on the existing capabilities in the Ireland Lab in DB2 Database development, and will deliver industry specific data warehouse architectures for banking, insurance, telecommunications, retail and healthcare.
The investment will involve creating a new cloud computing software development team to work on IBM LotusLive offerings, which is a suite of cloud-delivered online technologies for business. LotusLive provides essential collaboration services to simplify and improve daily business interactions with customers, partners and colleagues.
Designed with security in mind, LotusLive Connections and LotusLive Engage provide social-networking capabilities such as webconferencing, file storing and sharing, content management, live chat and business forms.
The investment will also involve the creation of a Centre of Excellence for Information Development to support a number of software products across IBM Tivoli software, which delivers solutions to multiple industries such as telecommunications, banking, pharmaceuticals and aerospace.
“This is wonderful news coming from the largest IT company in the world,” Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan TD said.
“This knowledge-driven investment is highly significant for Ireland. The benefits are tremendous in terms of the highly sophisticated software technology that will be developed, the highly skilled positions that will be created and the endorsement by a world industry leader that Ireland is helping to fulfil IBM’s global research, development and business strategy,” Minister Lenihan added.
By John Kennedy
This story is part of the Digital 21 campaign to encourage Ireland to develop a National Digital Development Plan, ensuring the country and its economy are strategically well placed to thrive in the 21st century. For more stories, and to add your comments, visit www.digital21.ie
