Funding of €12 million, over 5-years, has been announced today by Enterprise Ireland 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.
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.
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.
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.
Julie Sinnamon, CEO, Enterprise Ireland said, “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.”
Dr Edward McDonnell, Centre Director, CeADAR added, “I wish to acknowledge and thank Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland for their significant continued investment in CeADAR: the national centre for applied AI. The impact of the centre is measured against its economic value add in Ireland in facilitating the deployment of AI, machine learning and analytics. I am pleased to report that the centre consistently returns significant value and competitive advantage to the 100+ businesses and industries currently working with the centre.”
Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact 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.”
She added, “This additional investment in CeADAR will serve to further enhance Ireland’s reputation as a hub of excellence in AI, machine learning, and data analytics research and innovation.”
Professor Brian Norton, TU Dublin concluded: “CeADAR is facilitating the adoption of AI and machine learning into commerce and industry so its mission aligns very strongly with what TU Dublin does. As a national centre supported by Enterprise Ireland, CeADAR will keep Irish business at the forefront of a rapidly moving field and we are particularly pleased that our colleagues Robert Ross and Susan McKeever are bringing their expertise to bear as Principal Investigators.”
CeADAR is headquartered at NexusUCD, the Industry Partnership Centre at UCD.
This communication was first published 24 September 2019 by UCD Research and Innovation.
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