Irelands potential to be a global tech centre for excellence

The worldwide data analytics industry is worth €30 billion and Ireland is well-positioned to be a global centre of excellence for data analytics according to a new report from The Analytics Institute of Ireland in association with IDA Ireland, titled “Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence; Supporting Business Growth in Ireland.”

It will be launched officially at the 5th International Analytics Summit, the showcase industry event of the year that takes place virtually on Tuesday, November 24th, 2020.

The Summit is a global attraction and over 1,000 attendees will hear keynote speeches from global thought leaders and take part in interactive workshops, panel discussions, and virtual networking events.

The event will be hosted by The Analytics Institute of Ireland, the professional body representing the industry with a membership of over 3.000 Analytics and AI professionals and more than one hundred corporate and government organisations. Platinum sponsors include Snowflake, Microsoft, IBM, AON, and The Information Lab.

Data Analytics central to Business Growth in a changing landscape: Commenting on the report, Lorcan Malone, CEO, The Analytics Institute of Ireland said. “Now, more than ever data is central to all our lives. Major decisions in business, in government, and in healthcare must be underpinned by accurate, trustworthy, and reliable data.

Analytics has moved onto centre stage in 2020 by the need to react quickly and comprehensively to a rapidly shifting landscape.

Data-driven decision making is the difference between organisations that merely survive to those that will deliver for their stakeholders.

Without accurate data analysis we are relying on guesswork and that will not cut it anymore. With the right investment and focused supports, we can be a global leader in this space in the coming years”.

The report shows:
• Data analytics can be a driver of economic growth. Ireland is the continent’s largest data-hosting cluster with 25% of all Europe’s data hosted in the Dublin Metropolitan Area.

We are the chosen location for many of the world’s leading technology companies who are leveraging Analytics and AI technology to develop new products and services, to create new high-value jobs, and to drive new revenue streams.

• Strong talent pool: 134,000 Irish professionals cite Data Analytics on their LinkedIn profile – an increase of 107% on 2019; there were 2,720 data analytics related graduates in Ireland In 2019; Skills growth – Data Analytics (107%) Machine Learning (51%), R (37%) Python (36%). We have a highly educated analytics workforce: 47% hold a Bachelor’s Degree, 38% a Master’s Degree, and 7% a Ph.D.

• Lucrative, high earning jobs: Chief Data Officer: €160,000 – €250,000 p.a., Data Analytics Practitioner: €40,000 – €60,000 p.a.

• Sought After Roles: Jobs growth in Analytics related roles increased 15% in 2019. In particular, there’s a strong hiring demand in key positions – Data Analyst, Data Scientist, Data Architect, and Data Engineer.

• Gender Challenge With a gender breakdown of 65% Men, 35 % women, the industry faces the challenge of attracting more females into the Data and AI workforce.

There are a number of industry lead initiatives underway which are focused on improving the gender balance in the sector including the “Women in Data Science” industry group, the Her + Data Meet Up, Women in Tech, the Women in AI group sponsored by The Analytics Institute and Accenture’s “Women in Data Science” Accelerator – also supported by The Analytics Institute – which aims to build and develop the data science capabilities of women who already hold applied data skills or have broader numerical experience and are interested in the field.

• From an organisation perspective, the value of analytics is:
o Optimisation (reducing costs and increasing efficiency)
o Supporting data-driven business decisions
o Gaining customer insights
o Increasing revenues – new products, new markets

• A highly supportive ecosystem includes Science Foundation Ireland, Research Centres (Insight Centre for Data Analytics, Adapt Centre, CeADAR Centre for Applied AI, NDRC (National Digital Research Centre), Irish Centre for High-End Computing, Lero (Irish Software Research Centre).

• Enterprise support from IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Local Enterprise Centres.

For perspective, the top five software companies, nine of the top ten US technology companies and four of the top 5 IT Services companies have established headquarters in Ireland.

Ireland top in Europe for attracting AI talent. Dublin is EMEA HQ for many of the world’s leading data companies – Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Microsoft, and IBM.

Concluding, Lorcan Malone, CEO, The Analytics Institute of Ireland said: “The report was commissioned to support the case for Ireland as a growing ‘Global Centre of Excellence’ for Data. Our member organisations understand that.

We have some of the best companies in the world here in Ireland, some really innovative indigenous tech firms, and a hugely skilled workforce. The future is very bright.”

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