Overview
According to Technology Ireland, Ireland’s $50 billion digital economy accounts for 13% of GDP. Over 1,000 digital companies operate in Ireland including major U.S. MNEs like Apple, AWS, Cisco, Google, HPE, IBM, Intel, Meta and Microsoft. There is also a substantive SME community of digital technology companies comprising both international and indigenous firms. The $19 billion Irish ICT market has seen sustained demand growth as digital technologies and solutions play an ever-increasing role across the economy. The consistent advancement of national digital initiatives that support the EU successful digital transformation goal by 2030 is recognized in the EU 2023 Digital Decade Ireland Country Report.
Leading Sub-Sectors
Digitisation (IT, Software and Computer and Cloud Services)
The medium outlook for the Irish IT market remains positive. Annual expenditure in enterprise software is about €258 million and is driven by document and content management solutions, business intelligence and analytics, database, web servers, and enterprise portals. Expenditure on network storage software is around €62 million while the security software market is estimated at €124 million. Spending on software in the healthcare sector is circa €95 million.
Industry sources report that digital transformation continues to gather momentum in Ireland with the accelerated move to hybrid and multi-cloud environments. There are 82 data centers operating in Ireland with the Hyperscale segment (AWS, Google, Meta, Microsoft) accounting for 77% of capacity. The colocation segment has a 22% share. Alongside implementing a digital government initiative across the public sector, the Irish government is providing funding to enable SMEs develop their online presence and eCommerce channels. The digital sector plays a significant role in driving Ireland’s economic activity. Irish enterprises have spent $1.4 million annually on data processing and storage activities in recent years. End user demand for cloud computing (SaaS/IaaS/PaaS) is expected to underpin future market growth.
Advanced Manufacturing & Artificial Intelligence
Ireland’s Industry 4.0 strategy sets out the key ambitions for helping the manufacturing sector embrace digital technologies. A network of advanced manufacturing research centers has been rolled out nationwide by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to support indigenous SME manufacturers. Similarly, there has been positive progress on several key targets of the national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy launched in 2021. The First Progress Report on Ireland National AI Strategy outlined the launch of an Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum focused on industry adoption of AI and other digital technologies together with an AI Innovation Hub aimed at providing specialist training and project feasibility work to SMEs. Alongside the Expert Group on Future Skills report on AI Skills, these initiatives will be key enablers for achieving the strategic objective of 75% of enterprises in Ireland using AI by 2030.
IOT /Smart Cities
Demand for Internet-of-Things (IOT) technology and services in Ireland is increasing within healthcare, energy, transport, the public sector and manufacturing industries. Ireland’s three principal cities - Dublin, Cork, and Limerick - have led the emergence of IOT/smart city projects. To date, all smart city initiatives have been built on top of legacy infrastructure and many decades of social and economic programs, rather than creating new smart city districts. However, green-field initiatives are emerging in all three cities which have strong vision-oriented smart city strategies. The All-Ireland Smart Cities Forum is endeavouring to foster the development of similar strategies in other cities and regions of the country. It is also forging close connections with Nordic counterparts. The global health pandemic provided increased momentum to smart city initiatives with local government leaders seeking to capitalize on the benefits of emerging digital technologies to provide a positive sustainable impact for their citizens. U.S. MNEs have played a strong role in the evolution of Irish smart cities projects. Strong Irish interest in emerging smart cities initiatives globally, including those in the United States, underscores opportunities for emerging U.S. SMEs. Plans are also underway across local government authorities to launch local digital strategies for municipal regions.
Opportunities
The Irish ICT market is open and highly competitive with many international suppliers offering new and innovative digital products and services. Leading U.S. digital services players have a strong competitive presence in the market. Irish distributors, systems integrators and value-added resellers continually seek to identify and source the latest innovative digital products and services. Opportunities exist for U.S. MNEs and SMEs offering innovative and leading-edge digital solutions.
Industry sources expect Irish spending on cloud to grow in double digits across nearly all sectors in the near term. Financial services and manufacturing are the leading end-user segments with each sector spending $84 million and $68 million respectively annually. Industry sources forecast that by 2024, Irish financial services organizations will have invested over $188 million on the cloud; with manufacturing investing some $168 million. The Irish public cloud services market is also slated to grow significantly to $3.0 billion by 2024.
Sector-specific opportunities exist across the ERP, Financial, Healthcare, Energy, and Telecom segments together with Cloud Computing, Data Analytics & Big Data and Smart Cities. End user segments encompass organizations ranging from SMEs to MNEs and the public sector.
Regulatory arrangements for the ICT sector are largely driven by the European Commission’s Digital Market Act (DMA) which is fostering initiatives on free flow of data; cybersecurity; e-Privacy; setting ICT standards; and intellectual property. U.S. suppliers need to be particularly cognizant of data privacy issues outlined in the Data Protection section of the Chapter on Selling U.S. Products and Services.
Resources
Technology Ireland: https://www.ibec.ie/technologyireland
Host in Ireland: https://www.hostinireland.com/
First Progress Report on Ireland National AI Strategy (2023)
TechCentral: https://www.techcentral.ie/
Silicon Republic: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/
Public Procurement Portal (eTenders): https://www.etenders.gov.ie/
For more information about Ireland’s ICT and digital services sector, please contact:
Padraig O’Connor
Commercial Advisor – ICT & Cybersecurity Sector
U.S. Commercial Service Ireland
Tel: +353.87.2314726
Email: Padraig.O’Connor@trade.gov