Chinese tech powerhouse Huawei is expanding its Dublin, Cork and Athlone operations.
Huawei is creating 20 new jobs in Cork as part of a €17.7m investment in its growing R&D footprint in Ireland.
The expansion was announced by Guo Ping, Huawei deputy chair and rotating CEO, who was at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) today (11 December) for the announcement of a research partnership with the university.
‘We are continuing to tap into Ireland’s growing clusters of video, artificial intelligence, cloud, telecoms and technology businesses, nurturing future talent and providing additional new opportunities for highly skilled professionals’
– GUO PING
These developments bring Huawei’s R&D investment in Ireland to $21m (€17.7m) in 2017, a significant increase from 2016.
The addition of a new research centre for Ireland was alluded to last year during a visit by Huawei board member Chen Lifang to Dublin.
Growing R&D commitment
Huawei has been in Ireland for 13 years now and employs 160 people in Dublin, Athlone and Cork across its business and R&D operations. About 75pc of staff at these operations have been recruited locally.
“The company’s new research partnership with Trinity, and its expanding R&D footprint across its Dublin, Cork and Athlone operations, are a strong endorsement of Ireland’s tech credentials and illustrates Huawei’s ongoing commitment to its Irish operations,” said An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, TD, who was present at the announcement.
“Bilateral trade between Ireland and China is now worth over €12bn each year and, by strengthening our links with companies like Huawei, we can increase this further in the years ahead.”
The new research cooperation with TCD will focus on video intelligence and how the emerging area of artificial intelligence will impact society. It will be supported by the Huawei R&D team in Dublin.
“The Trinity partnership, as part of our growing R&D commitment, highlights our long-term dedication to investment and opportunities in Ireland,” Guo Ping said.
“We are continuing to tap into Ireland’s growing clusters of video, artificial intelligence, cloud, telecoms and technology businesses, nurturing future talent and providing additional new opportunities for highly skilled professionals.”
From left: Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland; Guo Ping, Huawei deputy chair and rotating CEO; and Dr Patrick Prendergast, provost of Trinity College Dublin. Image: Maxwells
In addition to R&D, about 30 Irish STEM students have participated in Huawei’s Seeds for the Future programme in China.
“Creating a world-class ecosystem for scientific research is a key part of Irish Government policy and, over recent years, Ireland put in place a range of measures to improve the environment in this area,” said IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan.
“Today’s announcement by Huawei, a global leader in this sector, is extremely positive and I look forward to working with Huawei as its investment in Ireland grows.”
Trinity College Dublin. Image: STLJB/Shutterstock
