Two Irish-based consortiums are close to being fully approved as European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs).
CeADAR based in UCD, Dublin and the FactoryxChange consortium in the Midlands have been identified as part of a European Union investment of over €700 million to co-fund an EU-wide network of hubs. Each Irish hub is set to receive annual funding of €1.9 million from both the EU and the Irish Government under the National Recovery and Resilience Facility.
These new hubs will work with local SMEs and public sector bodies to help them ‘go digital’, incorporating the benefits of digital technology in their operations, no matter what stage they are currently at.
The hubs will provide help with training, research and testing and advice on funding. They will be up and running by the end of this year.
- CeADAR led by Ireland’s EI/IDA Technology Centre in Applied Data Analytics and Machine Intelligence (based in UCD) which will focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation in SMEs and public-service organisations
- FactoryxChange (FxC), a consortium led by the EI/IDA Technology Centre Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) in Mullingar, which will accelerate factories to become ‘Factories of the Future’ integrating ecological, digital, and societal solutions into their core business models
European Digital Innovation Hubs
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, said:
“How businesses interact with their customers, how citizens access public services and how we communicate and work with one another is all being transformed by digital technology. We need to make sure we are prepared for what will surely be an acceleration of this trend and that our SMEs especially, are assisted to make the most of new technology and stay ahead of the curve.
“We are doing this in many ways, including through direct grant funding, but these European Digital Innovation Hubs, EDIHs, will certainly be a welcome boost to the areas they are placed in and I hope all of our SMEs, no matter where they’re based, will see some benefits. The future is digital and we need to make sure we are prepared.”
Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy, said:
“Today’s announcement of Ireland’s candidate European Digital Innovation Hubs is another step towards ensuring that Ireland is at the forefront of a digital future. Digital transformation, including the adoption of AI, across the enterprise base is a core focus for Government, particularly for SMEs and the regional ecosystem.
“This new network, once approved, will help enterprises all around the country to realise the huge opportunities the digital economy presents to improve services, enhance customer experience, and increase competitiveness.”
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Enterprise Ireland will now work with the proposed EDIHs over the coming months to progress through the next steps in the national approval process and help them operationalise so they can commence offering their services before the end of the year.
Leo Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, said:
“I welcome this important milestone in the development of Ireland’s candidate European Digital Innovation Hubs.
“The ambition of the proposed hubs to provide services to SMEs related to digital transformation, circular economy, sustainability, artificial intelligence, manufacturing 4.0 is welcome, as is the regional spread of the hubs here and their overall complementarity.
“Increasing the competitiveness and productivity of SMEs through higher levels of operational focus, more innovation and digital adoption is very much in line with Enterprise Ireland’s 3-year strategy “Leading in a Changing World”, which is supporting a vision for Irish enterprise to 2030.”
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