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Equinix, Inc., the world's digital infrastructure company, has announced that a planned data centre in Dublin would be capable of supporting 10,000 jobs in Ireland. This follows a newly published report from Equinix, carried out by KPMG, which shows that Equinix's existing facilities in Ireland currently support businesses which account for 53,000 jobs - or 2% of the workforce in Ireland.
As a colocation data centre provider, Equinix provides digital infrastructure to hundreds of businesses operating in Ireland. In doing so, it plays a major role in supporting the Irish labour force. However, digital infrastructure companies, such as Equinix, are currently being denied new connections to Ireland's electricity grid.
A planned 9.9 MW retail international business exchange facility, in Profile Park, Clondalkin, saw an application for a connection to the grid rejected last August. Equinix estimates that this facility would be capable of supporting businesses in maintaining a further 10,000 jobs in Ireland.
The report calculates that the construction of this facility would generate an economic output of over €200M. Due to the rising demand for digital services, this expansion would also see Equinix grow its own team in Ireland from 150 to 170 and further support local SMEs. The team in Ireland has grown by 20% since 2021, with this growth now also paused due to the current data centre moratorium.
In the report it was found that there were 40,000 visits to Equinix retail colocation data centres in 2023 - equating to a rate of 13 people an hour. Visitors came from a range of sectors including FinTech and financial services, manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences. Customers visit Equinix international business exchanges to maintain their digital infrastructure equipment and ensure they are maximising the value of digital connectivity.
Equinix hosts more than 260 businesses at its existing Irish facilities, including more than 130 Irish enterprises. More than half (56%) of Equinix's customers in Ireland have their business headquarters in the country, ensuring that Equinix is facilitating the digital activities and growth of local businesses.
Peter Lantry, Managing Director for Ireland, Equinix, said: "This research shows the vast spectrum of companies and industries working with Equinix and using our services. We are supporting companies of all sizes, from multinationals to smaller Irish enterprises, with more than 30 of our customers having fewer than 20 employees. All of these enterprises are not just key for our economic growth, but vital in our daily lives, too.
Innovation is happening every day in Equinix, shown by the number of people using our data centres as a digital hub on a daily basis.
"Digital infrastructure is essential in supporting Ireland's workforce - especially with the rise in data processing including AI activity, and hybrid and remote working - and it is only set to grow in importance. At Equinix, we want to continue supporting businesses and economic growth in Ireland, but we are now at the point where multinational companies are choosing to base themselves elsewhere due to our ongoing national grid crisis.
"We have the ability and technology to operate flexibly off the grid, meaning we can be self-sufficient when the grid is at capacity. By allowing Equinix to provide this service to the grid, Ireland can save its reputation as a digital powerhouse, supported by some of the best talent in Europe."
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DreamDev Technologies, a software company from Kildare who have developed a new AI augmented platform helping companies to significantly increase their product's time to market, have been named Overall Winner at this year's National Enterprise Awards last night. DreamDev Technologies, established by Eoin Barry and Douglas Augiar, are the third Kildare winner of the National Enterprise of the Year Award in the last six years following on from Terra NutriTech in 2018 and Pestle & Mortar in 2019.
The Awards, which are an initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices to celebrate the best small businesses in Ireland, were held at the Round Room in the Mansion House in Dublin in what is their 24th year. Peter Burke, T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, announced this year's winners in front of representatives from the Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities and small businesses from across the country at the event.
DreamDev was set up in 2019 with the aim of utilising online tools and software to enable faster digitalisation for companies. Their flagship product, 'the dot-star enterprise' software platform enables software engineering teams to create their own bespoke software programmes which deliver results with significantly reduced resourcing requirements.
Announcing the award winners at the Mansion House and after earlier launching the new Local Enterprise Office Policy Statement, Minister Burke said; "The National Enterprise Awards are the highlight of the small business and enterprise calendar. Year on year the diversity of businesses and the standard of companies that are coming through the process is getting stronger. We should not be surprised given the innovation and endurance that businesses have shown in recent years.
We have some outstanding winners but the finalists on the whole have been excellent, and this is very much the start of their journey.
"The new Local Enterprise Office Policy Statement I announced today sets out the vital role that LEOs have in fostering entrepreneurship and helping small businesses thrive every day across the country. The Policy Statement charts a clear roadmap of how LEOs will align their work with the priorities of the White Paper on Enterprise and ensure that their high-calibre offering continues into the future.
I pay tribute to the great work of the current and former staff of the LEOs who, over the last 10 years, have helped and guided small businesses in Ireland which are at the heart of every town, village and community and are vital to our economy."
John Magee, Chair of the network of Local Enterprise Offices, said; "The National Enterprise Awards are the standard bearer for the very best of small businesses in Ireland. You can see from previous winners that this is the first step on a bigger journey and it opens many doors for them nationally and internationally. Across the Finalists and winners you see a great diversity of businesses covering a range of sectors.
The entrepreneurship eco-system is extremely healthy and these businesses are a testament to that.
"These entrepreneurs are inspired to create businesses and employment in their own areas and to establish businesses that can not only compete here but globally. It's a honour to be able to work with these businesses on a day-to-day basis and we look forward to seeing what all the finalists do in the coming years."
There were several other category winners announced on the night.
Innovation Award
The winner of the Innovation Award was Cytidel. The cybersecurity company, supported by Local Enterprise Office Mayo, has created software that helps cybersecurity teams to identify and prioritise the top cyber threats to a company.
Best Export Award
The winner of the Best Export Award was Eskimo Software. The company, who are supported by Local Enterprise Office Carlow, have created a CRM and lead generation software package specifically for car dealerships to improve efficiency and

Irish sustainability experts ConnectGreen (connectgreen.ie) has launched its innovative biodiversity and carbon offsetting platform, connecting farmers and landowners with companies who are looking for guaranteed, certified and verified biodiversity and carbon offsetting initiatives.
By leveraging the new EU carbon framework, ConnectGreen makes it possible for ordinary landowners, including farmers, to participate in the carbon and biodiversity credits global marketplace and maximise the financial benefits of carbon farming.
Biodiversity and carbon offsetting platform
John Kelleher, CEO of ConnectGreen commented: "We are calling on farmers and landowners across Ireland to see the revenue potential in the evolving biodiversity credits and carbon offsetting sector. We come from a farming background ourselves and we understand the pressures that farmers are currently under.
With Ireland's biodiversity plans that aim to rewild and rewet 20 percent of the country's land, we are partnering with farmers and landowners helping them unlock the potential and opportunity of realising a dependable, long-term income stream from carbon and biodiversity assets on their own land".
Kelleher added: "We are also highlighting to Irish-based companies the option of securing their biodiversity and carbon credits here in Ireland - why invest in projects in Africa or South America, when our platform offers a wide range of biodiversity and carbon offset initiatives available across Ireland.
Your customers and shareholders will appreciate your action in ensuring your ESG investments are helping to improve the environment right here at home rather than in a project half way round the globe".
Cattle and sheep farmers Mike Cremins and his Uncle Pat Cremins who are fourth and fifth generation farmers from Meenganaire, Knocknagoshel, Co. Kerry, said: "We have been saying for years that someone has to pay farmers for the great work they do in managing the landscape, in particular, for farmers who own what could be termed poorer land in peatland and mountain areas like ourselves where economic viability is always difficult.
ConnectGreen's platform with its biodiversity credits and carbon offsetting opportunities is a great way of compensating small farmers and landowners like ourselves for the work we do day in and day out in nurturing the Irish countryside".
From the outset, ConnectGreen has focussed on providing an opportunity for companies and landowners to collaborate in carbon offsetting in a thoroughly verifiable and certified way, guaranteeing that a reliable and quantifiable level of offsetting is taking place.
Mr. Kelleher concluded: "That is the essence of our 'triple-lock': verified, certified and guaranteed. We offer an unwavering commitment to authenticity and integrity, so every carbon credit purchased through our platform has been rigorously verified by our expert team.
"The carbon market is evolving rapidly and we're excited to be at the forefront of this new movement in Ireland and across the EU. ConnectGreen is already engaged with a number of biodiversity and carbon offsetting projects across Ireland, and we have ambitious targets to oversee deals that will facilitate the removal of 250k tons of carbon from the atmosphere by the end of 2024."
Full details on how the ConnectGreen platform works can be found on the company's website: ConnectGreen.ie. The site also features tailored content for both landowners, including farmers, who are looking to maximise income from their holdings. ConnectGreen also offers a "Software as a Service" platform for companies looking to engage in carbon accounting including the monitoring, reporting and verification of biodiversity and carbon assets.
About ConnectGreen
Established in 2023 and headquartered in Cork, ConnectGreen provides a comprehensive suite of services designed to facilitate businesses on their journey to net-zero emissions while helping landowners maximize return on Investment from their la

We look at this well know model, now re-released for its 25th anniversary. We were also fortunate to have a Nokia-fanboy on the team for this one, someone who actually collects Nokias for hobby. Yes, we know, but we figure everyone needs to have a pastime don't they.
Nokia 3210, 25th anniversary edition, reviewed
Here goes, a deep dive, from someone who has a passion for retro Nokias.
I'm a niche user of this niche product, so I'm not sure of the value of my comments to a wider audience. What I would say about the Nokia you have……
If you want a phone that is simple and ready to go, it fits the bill.
Other models like the 8210 4G has more flexibility in how you can organise the options and set the display and shortcuts up the way you want to but if you don't want that, you're grand.
The operating system is much better than some of the Nokia phones. The phone I had with the Kaios operating system (the Nokia 6300 4G) struggled to write messages fluently, particularly when faced with certain punctuation or apostropies. This model has no such problems.
Silly little stuff
You can set calendar events to repeat daily, weekly, monthly or yearly (but you can't specify the length of the interval yourself, so no fortnightly, or every 10 days). Some of the Nokia calendars have very limited space to insert items and others don't let you repeat yearly for some reason!)
the stopwatch is simplified. There's no option to use it as a lap timer (so the clock resets to zero at every split and you can see each lap clearly). It will let your record your splits (so the time of each lap is recorded but then you have to work out the length).
when you open settings, why do you have some setttings listed but others accessible through a settings wheel icon (predictive text).
the "go to" shortcut button doesn't have all the "apps" as options to list (on this 8210 anyway). So I can't put the stopwatch in as an option with this short cut button. Why not? Seems mad.
If you ask me, the phones have lots of quirky little nooks and crannies, as opposed to a fluid experience. On the 8210 I have, you can organised the position of the menu options when they are in icon display but not when they are in list display. Why not? Some Nokia's you can't organise them at all, not sure about the one you have.
Worth testing
The radio is likely to be good (it is on this 8210 4G)
the internet
the camera
I would also say I only flicked around with yours for a few minutes and I am referencing passed experience off the top of my head from using 5 different modern Nokias. So if I was going to print with tbis and my name was going to be on it, I'd double check those things first.
So they're good, particularly if you're not fussy (which you won't be surprised to hear, I am!!!!)
More about the phone Nokia 3210
It's the mobile phone that defined a generation. And now, 25 years on from its original release, the legendary Nokia 3210 is back in Scuba Blue, Grunge Black and Y2K Gold- brought to you by European mobile innovator, Human Mobile Devices (HMD), makers of Nokia phones.
'Dumbphones' are making a comeback as people look to return to simpler times. In 2023 Human Mobile Devices (HMD) saw sales of the iconic Nokia 2660 Flip phone, double; and HMD expects further feature phone market growth in 2024.
The devices offer a solution for a digital detox in a world where almost four in ten (38%) of 16-24 years olds worry they spend too much time on their smartphone. 1
Lars Silberbauer, CMO of Human Mobile Devices (HMD), comments: "The Nokia 3210, a cultural icon, is back at the pinnacle of global dumbphone boom as consumers look to balance their screen time usage with a digital detox. The Nokia 3210 has simplicity at its core, allowing consumers to be totally present. Forget dumbphone, this is 2024's fun phone."
A quarter of a century ago the Nokia 3210 was launched. It quickly became a smash hit, and it connected hundreds of millions of people. For 2024 it's back. Only this time the f

Aston University researchers are helping to make rice straw processing in India and the Philippines less environmentally damaging.
The University will be contributing to a new international collaboration, the Renewable, Inclusive Carbon-negative Energy (RICE) project, funded by Innovate UK Energy Catalyst programme to unlock renewable energy for rice farmers.
Rice straw to help greenhouse gas emissions savings
Already the University has worked with UK company Straw Innovations in the Philippines and now the two are expanding their collaboration to benefit more of the continent.
Rice straw is a crop waste byproduct and each year across Asia 300 million tonnes of it go up in smoke when burnt after harvest. This releases emissions and air pollutants that triple risks of increased respiratory diseases and accelerate climate change.
India and the Philippines are the world's second and eighth largest rice producers respectively and together they produce 130 million tonnes of both rice and straw per year.
Aston University and Straw Innovations and will be collaborating with an Indian award winning small and medium sized enterprise, Takachar. The firm has developed small scale, low-cost, portable equipment which can convert agricultural waste on-site into higher value bioproducts such as fertilizer blends, chemicals and biofuels.
"The company will develop a super-sized version which is 10 times bigger than their current device, make it adaptable to rice mills, and will send it to Straw Innovations, so the two firms can test out different business models for farmer adoption/benefit. Straw Innovations will also send their machines from the Philippines to India mid-project and the two countries will test out different business models for farmer adoption/benefit.
And for the first time they will tap into the heat produced in the waste process to dry rice, instead of using diesel or kerosene.
University researchers will lead on assessing the sustainability of the project, calculating the greenhouse gas emissions savings of the new systems introduced by Straw Innovations and Takachar. Sustainability expert Dr Mirjam Röder will also engage with the farming community and rural stakeholders to quantify how the systems can increase farmer incomes, equality of opportunity, food security and decarbonisation benefits, whilst highlighting any trade-offs.
Dr Röder who is based at Aston University's Energy & Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI) said: "Environmentally, rice produces 48% of all global crop emissions, due to methane from flooded fields. This is halved when the straw is removed and reduced further when its carbon is stored in biochar. We are aiming for carbon negative which means removing carbon dioxide (CO?) from the atmosphere or sequestering more CO? than is emitted.
"Our new research leads on from our rice straw bio gas hub project with Straw Innovations, SEARCA and Koolmill and we're pleased to be building further relationships with new partners in India.
In January Biomass and Bioenergy published a paper about the topic written by Dr Röder, the director of EBRI Professor Patricia Thornley and Craig Jamieson of Straw Innovations called The greenhouse gas performance and climate change mitigation potential from rice straw biogas as a pathway to the UN sustainable development goals.
Craig Jamieson from Straw Innovations said "We've been pioneering rice straw work with the team at Aston University for the past seven years. We're delighted to continue that strong partnership and widen it to include Takachar in this new project.
"Takachar is a leader in making biochar from crop residues and our partnership with them is very strategic. We look forward to combining our new improved straw harvesting technology with their scaled-up biochar production. It will be a step change, creating a new, more efficient system for carbon negative energy and soil improvement for rural communities across Asia."
Mohan who founded Takachar said: "We a

Kaiser Friedrich, a vessel steeped in history, was built in 1886. It recently marked its return to service with a ceremonial christening in central Berlin. In a bid to preserve its legacy, its owners refitted the historic 30-meter vessel with a modern, emission-free electric drive system by the world leader in electric mobility on the water, Torqeedo.
Kaiser Friedrich, Berlin's oldest passenger vessel goes green
The Kaiser Friedrich, a twin-screw steamship, plied Berlin's waters for almost 80 years before it was decommissioned in 1967 and converted into offices and residential space. In 1986, the German Museum of Technology purchased the 100-ton boat and restored it to its original appearance.
For several years, the Kaiser Friedrich once again delighted guests with historical city tours until its engines, which used over 150 liters of diesel per hour, made operation both ecologically and economically unviable. The museum reclaimed the boat in 2012 and started the search for Kaiser Friedrich's next chapter.
In 2022, Volker Marhold and Julius Dahmen, who both have experience converting historic boats to electric propulsion, purchased the Kaiser Friedrich. In close collaboration with Torqeedo's Customized Solutions team, the conversion to an ultra-efficient electric drive system with twin Deep Blue 50 kW inboard motors and a 400 kWh Deep Blue battery bank was expertly completed by the Tangermünde Shipbuilding and Development Company in Genthin, Germany.
Starting on 13 May, Berliners and visitors to the "Athens on the Spree" can enjoy an eco-friendly city tour on board this legendary passenger vessel. At night, the city's most famous boat transforms into a floating beer garden during the 3.5-hour Old Berlin Beer Evening. Online booking is available at www.kaiserfriedrich.berlin.
Mr. Dahmen, co-owner of the 138-year-old vessel and operator of Berliner Welle, a company that provides a variety of historic boats for excursions and events, said: "Whisper-quiet, environmentally conscious and free of local emissions, the Kaiser Friedrich will again be available to the people of Berlin. This is the third Berliner Welle excursion boat that we have converted to Torqeedo electric drives, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration."
"The Kaiser Friedrich is a longtime maritime landmark of the city," said Mr. Marhold. "And now it is also a symbol of transformation towards the mobility of the future. And what a wonderful future for Berlin's oldest passenger vessel, which can now once again welcome passengers to celebrate life with them while enjoying breathtaking views of our beautiful city."
"Torqeedo's electric drive and energy management systems for commercial vessels are transforming the world's waterways," said Fabian Bez, CEO of Torqeedo GmbH. "Major cities like Berlin are taking measures to reduce boating and shipping's ecological, health and climate impacts. But it's not just happening in urban areas: Lake Constance is working toward a holistic decarbonization strategy, and we see similar efforts implemented around the globe."
"An electrification project of this size and historical significance is an important step forward," continued Bez. "Commercial vessels of all sizes can be cleaner, quieter, and healthier for our natural and human environments. The technology is here today. It's time to go electric."
About Torqeedo:
Torqeedo is the market leader for electric mobility on the water. Founded in 2005 in Starnberg, the company develops and manufactures electric and hybrid drives from 0.5 to 100 kW for commercial applications and recreational use. Torqeedo products are characterized by an uncompromising high-tech focus, maximum efficiency and complete system integration. www.torqeedo.com
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