Enterprise Ireland has today announced funding of €12 million over 5-years for CeADAR, a market-focused Technology Centre working with industry to accelerate the development and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics and machine learning.
The funding package approved by Enterprise Ireland will be matched by an additional industry contribution of almost €10 million with another €6 million expected to be won from other competitive funding sources.
The funding will enable CeADAR to expand its operations to meet the growing demand from Irish industry and SMEs to implement AI technologies into their businesses to gain competitive advantage.
Based in University College Dublin (UCD), in partnership with TU Dublin and supported by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, CeADAR is the only Irish centre among a network of 30 AI innovation hubs across Europe to be selected by the European Commission to collaborate on AI projects and to help create the foundation for future European policies on AI technology.
Since CeADAR was established in 2013, it has worked with over 80 member companies, completed 60 industry-focused projects and influenced more than 600 additional Irish based companies to move towards implementing data analytics and AI as viable business tools. It has also developed almost 50 demonstrator prototypes which are highly valued by industry, leading to over 50 technology transfer licences signed with Irish industry.
Speaking this week, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, Professor Orla Feely said, "Advances in AI, machine learning, and data analytics are already transforming the way we work today and will lead to new ways of working and new jobs in the future. The funding announced today will enable UCD world-class researchers, to continuer collaborating with TU Dublin researchers, and industry partners, to accelerate the development and commercial deployment of innovative technologies into the Irish workplace."
CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Julie Sinnamon added, "This new funding approval aims to scale up operations at CeADAR to meet continuously growing industry demand in Ireland for support in adopting data analytics, machine learning and particularly AI into their businesses. The pace of technological change is exponential and with the high rate of adoption in this space Enterprise Ireland recognises that many organisations face a challenging journey to develop their core capabilities in these areas so that they can successfully innovate and compete with companies across the globe."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
