The Government is investing a further €5m in the Connected Hubs network, which now includes more than 200 remote working hubs.
A new mobile app will enable remote workers and digital hub users to book their workspaces at Ireland’s growing network of Connected Hubs.
The Government will also invest €5m through its 2022 Connected Hubs funding call to enhance existing remote working facilities across the country.
These initiatives were announced by Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys, TD, today (21 February) at the Mill Enterprise Centre in Drogheda, Co Louth. They are part of a national awareness campaign being run by Humphreys’ department and the Western Development Commission to promote the benefits of working from these hubs.
Last year, Humphreys’ department invested €5m to support the development of a national Connected Hubs network. It was part of the Government’s five-year rural strategy launched last March and promised to create a network of 400 rural working hubs across the country.
Humphreys said today that the number of Connected Hubs in Ireland would surpass 200 this week, “meaning we are already halfway to our target of 400 hubs nationwide”.
“Today represents the next chapter in our remote working journey,” she added. “I’m really pleased to launch the new Connected Hubs mobile app, which will enable workers to book their desk space in their local hub with ease.”
The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. It allows users to find their nearest hub facility and book a desk space online.
As well as the fresh €5m fund to upgrade hubs around the country, Humphreys said her department would be “announcing further funding for the development of new remote working facilities” over the coming weeks and months.
In the past two years, hubs have been developed in unused buildings that previously housed Garda stations, schools, train stations and banks.
Last July, digital hubs got a boost when Humphreys’ department invested €8.8m across 117 remote working projects all over the country.
The deadline for applications as part of the Connected Hubs 2022 funding call is 4 April. The minimum grant which is available per single hub is €10,000 and the maximum is €75,000.
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