Category: Irish Tech News

Irish InsurTech Kayna Wins Insurtech NY Award

Kayna, an Irish InsurTech outfit that developed a unique embedded insurance infrastructure, enabling distribution through vertical SaaS, has won the Carrier/Broker Competition for Global Early-Stage Insurtech at InsurTech NY’s Spring Conference held in New York.

The co-founding pair of Paul Prendergast, CEO and Peter Bermingham, CTO developed the solution to provide the technology orchestration layer between Insurance Carriers, Brokers and any Vertical SaaS platform to distribute insurance products. This novel technology-enabling layer is optimised for Embedded Insurance distribution.

Kayna’s No-Code embed integrates with Vertical SaaS platforms that manage the daily operations for thousands of SMB customers. It leverages the unique data of that platform to provide insurance products specific to the needs of each business. It then tracks the relevant changes to the data to enable real-time updates to insurance policies, which adapt continuously to changes within a business. This ensures that Carriers and Brokers are seamlessly serving SMBs with relevant policies based on real-time SMB data and in turn SMBs benefit from the provision of right-sized insurance cover.

Speaking of the win, Kayna CEO Paul Prendergast, commented that, “This award is a great validation of our technology and business model. We are focused on working with carriers and brokers to allow them to compete in an increasingly crowded SMB insurance sector. As an enabling-technology company, we provide an end-to-end service regardless of carrier and broker technology capability and our infrastructure works across any platform to use real-time SMB data. This is unique and transformative in terms of embedded insurance distribution and it fixes a massive problem of over and under insurance. We were honoured to compete with the brightest InsurTech talent in the world for this win which represents huge opportunity, giving us exposure to 10+ early-stage investors and insurance leaders, and the chance to present in front of 400+ InsurTech influencers live in New York.”

David Gritz , Managing Director InsurTech NY, in announcing the win stated that, “The Carrier/ Broker award is given to the startup that is seen to have the largest commercial potential. The award was developed to recognise the innovative early stage innovators in the space.” 

How it Works

Kayna accesses Vertical SaaS platform for SMB operations data

Kayna embeds Carrier/Broker with No-Code

Kayna deploys end-to-end orchestration layer

Kayna enables Insurance distribution

Kayna actively conducts real-time SMB data tracking, enabling Vertical SaaS platform to serve unique, real-time carrier/broker insurance solutions to platform customers providing them with relevant, right-sized policy offers.

The Embedded Insurance market is forecast to grow to US$722bn in GWP by 2030 – more than six times its current size.

Irish digital services company TEKenable is creating 10 new jobs with the establishment of an ESG Practice

The establishment of TEKenable’s ESG Practice is a key investment area for the company and a critical pillar of its growth strategy.  TEKenable’s clients can define a path to a more sustainable future.

The ESG Practice will provide ESG consulting services to TEKenable customers, especially around the areas of data collection and reporting, carbon reduction and return on investment. The ESG Practice will also provide services to TEKenable itself ensuring ESG is integrated into TEKenable’s customers’ purpose, governance, strategy, decision-making, risk management, and accountability reporting across all divisions of the company and will work closely with them to ensure that understanding and alignment of sustainability and ESG priorities are embraced throughout the organization.   As a result, TEKenable’s customers will be supported with advice, ESG aware project deliveries, ESG related software solutions and sustainable procurement.

“We have developed TEKenable’s ESG services to accelerate our customers on their sustainable transformation journey,” explains Nick Connors, Group CEO, TEKenable.  “Through the use of cloud-based technologies to enable secure data storage and seamless interactions to drive sustainable decisions across our customer’s operations and stakeholders, we will help them accelerate transformation of their organisations and value chains.”

TEKenable has partnered with EcoVadis, the world’s trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, in its quest to use technology to help achieve its objectives and help organisations improve their environmental, social and ethical performance faster and also with Irish ESG consultancy BluePlanet.

TEKenable delivers digital services through Low Code platforms to medium and large-scale enterprises in Ireland, the UK, Spain, Hungary and the UAE.  The company is Irish owned and is committed to transforming forward-thinking public and private sector businesses into fully digital businesses in the cloud.

The ESG Practice will be headed by a sustainable industry expert with a long track record of handling the interests of clients, stakeholders, regulators and partners. The new positions include Cloud Engineering, Data and Analytics and Consulting and will be fulfilled in 2024.

“TEKenable is committed to helping clients move from sustainability and climate commitments to action,” adds Peter Rose, Group CTO, TEKenable.  “We will do so by working with organisations to create a transformation plan as well as helping drive collaboration across a broader ecosystem – of suppliers, clients and customers, policymakers, and alliance partners across industries. Sustainable IT can lead the way while delivering service enhancements and cost savings for a business.”

Expleo opens Galway innovation hub, announces €5M investment and 70 new jobs

Expleo, a global technology, engineering and consulting service provider, today announces the opening of a Galway innovation hub and a €5M investment in the expansion of its life sciences and engineering research & development (ERD) teams, which will be headquartered there. The Galway base will be critical to bolstering Expleo’s presence in other key industries, including software and automotive. It is part of a wider plan to establish a network of regional hubs to support the company’s rapid growth across the island of Ireland.

The new hub, located in the Galway Technology Centre, Mervue, is forecast to have a significant impact on Expleo’s growing revenues in Ireland, supported by the expansion of its life sciences and ERD teams. By year-end 2024, the company will invest €5M in 70 jobs across the two teams. Team members will work across Expleo’s client sites and its network of offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast. On top of the 200 jobs announced in June last year, these latest jobs will see Expleo grow its island-wide team of over 1,000 by the end of 2024.

Expleo’s life sciences practice in Ireland specialises in product development for the MedTech and pharma while ensuring compliance and helping the sector meet regulatory needs. Meanwhile, the ERD team drives innovative thinking and new ways of working to simplify, enhance and automate key business processes. The jobs created will be in the areas of mechanical, electrical and digital engineering, as well as business consulting and software development and testing.

The new Galway office represents a long-term commitment from Expleo to both current and future customers located in Galway and the surrounding areas. Teams located there, and those working in client sites located in the West of Ireland, will be carrying out work on behalf of international clients who are based in Ireland. The hub will provide flexibility for Expleo staff located in the West, while giving Expleo access to a larger talent pool to support its rapid growth.

The opening of the Galway hub follows Expleo’s announcement last year that it was establishing a network of regional office hubs. The first hub in Mahon, Co. Cork, opened in June 2022.

All team members in the new hub, a mixture of current employees and new hires, will be offered the same flexible working arrangements as those in Expleo’s Dublin, Cork and Belfast offices, allowing them to split their time between working from home and working from the hub office or client sites.

Phil Codd, Managing Director, Expleo Ireland, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our regional expansion plans with the opening of our Galway hub. As Expleo continues to go from strength to strength on the island of Ireland, these hubs will provide us with the talent and momentum we need to deliver on our ambitious growth plans.

“Along with our investment in regional expansion, we are also making significant investments in our life sciences and engineering, research & development teams. As a global company, we bring experience and expertise from many disciplines and areas to support the growing demand in Ireland’s pharmaceutical and medical device design and manufacturing sector.

“Our new hub in Galway will provide cutting-edge services to businesses operating in the life sciences, software and automotive industries, helping them to innovate at speed and scale. Galway’s economy is thriving, and we are excited to be a part of it while also contributing to its growth.”

Bord na Móna’s Accelerate Green programme will see €5million investment over the next three years

Bord na Móna has revealed the eight new companies who have been selected to take part in the second year of Accelerate Green. The participating companies are NanobOx, Hibra Design, HaPPE Earth, Hub360, Superfy, Trinity Green Energy, EC Charging and CW Applied Technology. Bord na Móna’s Accelerate Green programme is Ireland’s leading sustainability programme designed to scale-up companies who are developing products and services based on green innovation in response to climate action and sustainability challenges. The current cohort of businesses employ over 70 people with turnover of more than €5million.

Bord na Móna has also committed to a further €5million investment in the Accelerate Green Programme over the next three years which will support more than 50 companies to scale up. A significant 15% of this will be invested in targeting new companies to apply to Accelerate Green with a particular emphasis on identifying Midlands based companies.

The companies participating in the Accelerate Green programme include NanobOx, a novel water treatment technology and winner of this year’s Big Ideas competition for tech start-ups run by Enterprise Ireland. They are developing a novel water treatment technology providing a highly energy-efficient method of oxygenating water as well as a chemical-free cleaning and sanitisation process using nanobubbles.

Hibra Design is an automotive design engineering company. They reengineer off-highway, speciality vehicles by removing the diesel powertrain and developing bespoke sustainable alternative systems such Battery Electric or Hydrogen Fuel Cell powertrains. This helps operators to reduce operational costs and increase productivity while providing healthier working environments.

HaPPE Earth have designed an innovative, fully compostable, medical grade apron using bioplastics as sustainable alternative for healthcare providers.  The single use apron disappears in approximately eight weeks and was a winner in the 2022 Health Innovation Hub Ireland awards. Currently only 10% of global healthcare waste is recycled. If the Irish health service removed single use plastic aprons, it would mean a reduction in plastic waste of 500 tons of plastic each year.

 Other companies include:

  • Hub360, a software platform that optimises logistics (incl. reducing carbon emissions) and deliveries for companies that use their own delivery fleet or third-party hauliers to deliver their goods. HUB360 is generating monthly recurring revenues, and revenue by delivering enhanced functionality and more modules over time into the same clients.
  • Superfy who deliver sustainable smart resource management solutions for companies for sustainability, waste, recycling, operations, workforce and fleet management.
  • Trinity Green Energy, who specialise in the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
  • EC Charging who design, develop, build, install and maintain smart EV charging systems.
  • CW Applied Technology,  a dynamic electronic business based in Shannon, Ireland.

Speaking at the launch, Tom Donnellan, CEO of Bord na Móna said. “At Bord na Mona we understand the role mentorship and partnership will play in achieving the vision of a climate neutral Ireland by 2050. Of the 17 companies who have already come through Accelerate Green, we have established a working partnership with six companies and facilitated ten to scale up, secure more funding, diversify their business and provide more climate focussed roles in the Midlands.

This new cohort of companies just beginning the programme represent the critical pipeline of potential new enterprises operating in the sustainability space or looking to transition to become a climate solutions company, a journey we have been on ourselves since 2018. We are committed to sharing our knowledge with these enterprises as they progress through the Accelerate Green programme, collaborating to ensure the organisations can scale up and become leaders in their own right with the support of Bord na Móna.”

Keynote speaker at the launch, Julie Sinnamon, Member of the Climate Change Advisory Council said, “I have been really inspired and impressed by the calibre of companies participating in this year’s Accelerate Green Programme. Great entrepreneurial and innovative businesses need the support of programmes such as Accelerate Green to make sure that they can scale up and thrive. It is their success that will drive Ireland forward to achieve the transition to a low carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy.”

Accelerate Green will be located at Bord na Móna’s existing office complex in Boora, Co Offaly. It has been developed in in conjunction with Irish innovation advisory firm Resolve Partners and ERINN Innovation.

Speaking at the launch, Alan Costello from Resolve Partners said; “Collectively, the eight companies on the programme employ 70 people and have raised funding of over €5 million to-date. Graduation from Bord na Móna’s Accelerate Green will open doors for further growth as it has for their predecessors. We have exciting innovations with this round of participants and this accelerator will help them deliver measurable impact and support sustainable economic development.”

More than 90 per cent of Bord na Móna investment in the last financial year was in areas the EU would class as “environmentally sustainable”, including renewable energy, land use change and the circular economy. Accelerate Green is central to the company’s commitment to the European Green Deal.

This work is supported with partial funding through the Bord na Mona led European Commission funded LIFE Integrated Project ‘Peatlands and People’ an initiative that aims to support the realisation of a carbon-neutral, climate resistant and environmentally sustainable country.

Find out more about and companies on the past programmes here.

Dell Technologies and MIC host primary schools from across the Mid-West for the regional finals of the Dell VEX Robotics Competition

Over 500 students from 17 primary schools from the Mid-West region took part in the regional final of the Dell VEX Robotics Competition recently. Hosted by Dell Technologies in conjunction with Mary Immaculate College (MIC), the regional final saw students take part in a game-based engineering challenge to design, code and build robots.

Five schools from the Mid-West took home awards from the final, which was held at the Dell Limerick campus in Raheen. Barryroe National School in County Cork and Thomond Primary School in County Limerick both won the Teamwork Champion Award, with Barryroe also winning the Excellence Award. Limerick’s Nicker National School were presented with the Judges Award, while the Gaelic Gladiators team from Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan in Nenagh, County Tipperary won both the Design Award and the Robot Skills Champion awards.

The robotics challenge begins in the classroom each year, with school children across the Mid-West working with their teacher from September to January to design, build and programme a robot. Teams from Dell and MIC volunteer their time to support the children and teachers as they prepare for the competition and also organise practice sessions. Classes can also opt to compete in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Technology (STEM) project, the theme of which this year was Mathematics in Nature. The students record and submit a video on their STEM projects to a panel of industry and education experts.

Since its introduction in 2014, the Dell VEX Robotics Competition has expanded nationwide with a growing number of young people inspired to engage in STEM at the earliest opportunity. The winners of the regional competition will take part in the national finals of the Dell VEX Robotics Competition on the 22nd and 23rd February at Munster Technological University in Cork. Almost 50 employees from Dell & MIC were involved in this year’s Mid-West final event.

According to Dr Maeve Liston, Director of Enterprise & Community Engagement at MIC: “We are delighted to be working with Dell Technologies again this year, bringing robotics to primary schools around the Mid-West region. The Dell VEX Robotics programme, run in partnership with MIC in the Mid-West, is an example of a unique collaboration between schools, industry and higher education. This involves a process of collaborative design and delivery between mentors from industry and experts in the field of STEM education from MIC, reinforcing what is being taught in the curriculum and extending learning beyond the curriculum into real world contexts.”

Commenting on the competition, Sean O’Reilly, EMEA Vice President of Logistics and Limerick Site Leader for Dell Technologies, said: “STEM learning is central to inspiring the next generation of developers and engineers whose skills will help shape our future as an innovation island. That is why our team in Limerick once again came together with Mary Immaculate College to host primary schools across the Mid-West for the Dell VEX Robotics regional competition. It is a fun way for us to engage young people in technology and foster their creativity. We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Mary Immaculate College as we expand the competition in the region. Well done to all the students and teachers who put on a powerful demonstration of their problem solving and computational skills during the recent regional final at our campus in Limerick.”

Students learn many technical skills like robotics, engineering, design, programming and coding. The teams also fundraise for robot parts, building skills and knowledge in areas such as teamwork, marketing and financial planning. This year the programme encouraged the students to look more closely at the world around them through the ‘Mathematics in Nature’ STEM project, leading students to explore applications including bees and the hexagonal shapes of hives and the honeycomb; the Fibonacci sequence in nature; fingerprints; and one team who investigated how Pythagoras’ Theorem helped them access a space in their attic.

Patricia O’Sullivan, Enterprise & Community Engagement Manager at MIC congratulated all the schools involved, saying: “We are so proud of all the schools here today. We began working with all these teachers and children from schools around the Mid-West Region in September 2022. It is great to see the results of all their hard work during such an exciting day here in Dell for the regional finals.”

Dell and MIC have been collaborating on the Dell VEX Robotics Competition for 5 years and were awarded The Teaching Council’s Collaboration Award in 2019. The project was chosen by the Council as an example of the transformative role that teachers play in our communities and society through collaboration.

MIC supports teachers integrate the programme into the curriculum and also offers Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses for teachers in the Dell VEX Robotics Competition, which are run in conjunction with staff from Dell.

MIC works with Dell on many projects and Dell has also been a strong advocate and supporter of its new CRAFT Maker Space which is due to open in March 2023.

To find out more about the Dell VEX Robotics Competition or to register for next year’s programme visit www.stemcraft.mic.ul.ie

One-Zero Sports and Technology Conference returns to Dublin in March 2023

Attendees of the One-Zero conference at the Aviva Stadium on the 29th and 30th March will be treated to some fascinating insights from sports, business and technology thought leaders. The event has just confirmed several new speakers to the line-up, including Thomas Ryan, VP of Basketball Strategy and Analytics at the NBA, Will Symon, Head of Partnership Development at Tottenham Hotspur, and Keily Blair, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer at Only Fans.

Ryan’s role at the NBA is to manage the Technology and Innovation function, which focuses on advancing and growing the game through cutting-edge initiatives, products, and partnerships. Symon has over a decade of experience in Premier League and global motorsport, having previously held senior commercial roles at Formula 1 and Formula E before taking responsibility at Spurs for delivering commercial growth across a variety of partnership verticals.

Blair’s role at internet content subscription service Only Fans is to formulate, drive and communicate the company’s strategic initiatives and future goals to users, commercial partners, and other key stakeholders. She will be speaking at One-Zero about how Only Fans provides a safe and innovative platform for athletes and sports training.

Also confirmed in the speaker line-up is former professional footballer Marvin Sordell, who retired from the game aged 28 to prioritise his mental health, before co-founding film production company Oneighty Productions and influencer marketing agency SWOOP. With other guests announced today including Tobi Wakefield, the Managing Director of Jlingz Sports, one of Europe’s foremost E-Sports organisations, and Sam Jefferies, Commercial Director of Norwich City Football Club, the three-day conference is set to attract some of the biggest names from international rights-holders, sponsors, brands and agencies for learning, networking, and collaboration opportunities.

Speaking at the reveal of further exciting guests today, One-Zero Chairman and Co-Founder Ross O’Dwyer said, “It’s incredible to be able to announce such a strong calibre of guests as One-Zero makes its long anticipated return to Dublin. Each speaker offers their own unique perspective based on their own experiences in the sports, business or technology sectors, and we are confident that every attendee will leave the Aviva feeling they have learned something. Our aim is to deliver cutting edge guests and we aren’t done yet. We will be announcing further exciting speakers very soon.”

Will Symon, Head of Partnership Development at Tottenham Hotspur said, “I’m excited to attend this year’s One-Zero to talk about the increasing convergence of sports and technology. At THFC, the topic has never been more important as we roll out new technologies at our state-of-the-art stadium, increase digital touchpoints with our fans and enhance the performance of our athletes.”

Tickets for the event are available via www.one-zero.com, with an early bird offer of €249 (ex VAT) running until the 28th of February.

Survey shows inability to switch off is the biggest obstacle to productivity in Irish workplaces

Storm Technology, the business technology consultancy, today announces the findings of a new survey which reveals that the biggest obstacle to productivity in Irish workplaces is people’s inability to disconnect/switch off. In fact, more than half (51%) of IT decision-makers identified it as one of the main barriers.

The other biggest obstacles cited by respondents were virtual meeting overload (49%), relying on manual processes (42%), the inability to collaborate with colleagues (35%), and a lack of effective IT solutions (33%).

The survey – conducted by Tech Central on behalf of Storm Technology and involving more than 100 IT decision-makers from the larger enterprises and businesses across Ireland – found that some 30% also view worrying about security protocols as an obstacle to productivity. Meanwhile, 22% identified a greater number of distractions when working remotely as a barrier and the same proportion said working irregular hours.

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Irish enterprises are set to spend an average of €1,588,720 on modernising the workplace in 2023. This marks a significant rise from the estimated average spend on modernising the workplace in 2022 which was found to be €848,765.

In terms of 2023 IT budgets, priority areas will be collaboration and productivity tools, with over two thirds (69%) of IT leaders set to focus on these. Security and compliance (64%), and cloud infrastructure (53%) rounded off the three key areas for investment this coming year.

Supporting hybrid working is the leading driver of workplace modernisation for 78% of organisations, with more than half (52%) of respondents viewing Microsoft as the most comprehensive solution suite to support the needs of hybrid/remote working. The other top drivers of workplace modernisation are enabling people to be more productive (71%) and delivering a better employee experience (55%).

Aiding communication and collaboration is a driver for 53%, as is enhancing service delivery for 51%. Meanwhile, some 27% of IT leaders said that creating a 100% remote working environment is a top reason for workplace modernisation, while almost a fifth (18%) said instilling better company culture was a key driver.

It seems that data governance is another area that requires improvement with the study showing that 61% of respondents find it challenging to uphold standards of data governance in their organisation. Furthermore, a quarter (25%) don’t think their company manages data effectively and more than one in ten (12%) businesses don’t have a strategy in place for data loss incidents.

Speaking about the findings, Mick McKay, Chief Operating Officer, Storm Technology, said: “Irish enterprises are still getting to grips with the workplace as we know it today and many issues remain, not only in terms of supporting productivity and collaboration but also company culture, customer service and data governance.

“As well as implementing technologies and automating processes which allow people to be productive and collaborative, business leaders must establish an environment which aids work/life balance. That means allowing them to focus on core tasks, rather than filling up diaries with virtual meetings. It also means being mindful of their time, both in and out of the workplace. For example, emails might suffice for some virtual meetings and communication with staff out of hours could be easily avoided.

“Technology should be deployed to support and enable work/life balance. Allowing people to switch off also benefits business. By modernising the workplace with effective technologies and strategies which uphold employee experience, strengthen company values and reinforce governance, you can deliver more value for your customers, drive business growth and maximise your return on investment.”

Cellnex and Dublin City University (DCU) partner on Ireland’s first 5G enabled ‘Smart Campus

Cellnex Ireland, Ireland’s largest independent telecoms infrastructure provider, has partnered with Dublin City University (DCU) to develop Ireland’s first 5G-enabled smart campus, which will further the objectives of the ‘Smart DCU’ initiative.

Smart DCU is a collaboration between Dublin City Council and partners Enable,  Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, and DCU Alpha. The goal of Smart DCU is to develop, test and trial cutting-edge technology innovations utilising three campuses with almost 19,000 students from 55 countries worldwide. Smart DCU is an ongoing program to make the DCU campuses a microcosm of a smart city, and thereby offer great insights into how a smart city can better function for the benefit of its citizens and stakeholders.

The partnership, officially launched today, will see Cellnex install a range of telecommunication infrastructure to ensure there is uninterrupted 5G coverage across the main campus, the nearby DCU Alpha Innovation Campus, and the DCU sports campus, and ultimately support smart city, connected vehicle (V2X) and internet of things (IoT) applications across three DCU campuses.

Rolling out 5G coverage of this scale will facilitate Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) capabilities on the campuses. MEC allows for the increased adoption of bandwidth-heavy applications, such as internet of things, virtual and augmented reality, remote medical monitoring and connected and autonomous vehicles. MEC is heavily reliant on 5G, and the partnership with Cellnex will now give DCU students, staff, researchers and partner companies the ability to trial new technologies in a real-world environment.

Cellnex and Smart DCU are now seeking to collaborate with mobile network operators to develop 5G capabilities across the campuses.

The partnership will be particularly advantageous to university start-ups, spin outs and partners, with a testbed becoming available to trial the latest innovations to tackle the problems of tomorrow. This live smart city testbed environment will assist in commercializing collaborative research which takes place across DCU.

It is expected that DCU will utilize the infrastructure in a number of ways, including:

  • Smart building monitoring to encourage sustainable energy use
  • Smart parking to reduce bottlenecks
  • Enhanced robotics and ‘last mile’ delivery capabilities
  • Augmented reality learning experiences
  • Video analytics and IoT for sports teams

Ronan O’Connor, Commercial Director of Cellnex Ireland, said:

“DCU is a vibrant and research-focused university, with an existing innovation pedigree through DCU Alpha. This partnership will allow DCU to take its IoT and smart campus activities to the next level. Continued adoption of 5G and IoT applications is vital in creating a competitive economy, while also solving pressing issues at a societal level which would not have been possible without this groundbreaking technology. This is a partnership which is incredibly exciting for Cellnex, and we look forward to collaborating with the mobile network operators to facilitate what will be truly unique testbed for a third level setting in Ireland.”

Kieran Mahon, Smart DCU Projects Facilitator, said:

“Smart DCU, under the auspices of the Smart Dublin programme, has been established as a microcosm of a smart city, allowing the campus infrastructure to be used as a testbed for new technologies like Mobile Edge Computing, in partnership with world leading innovative companies like Cellnex. DCU is very excited about the innovation and research possibilities that this partnership will help unlock”.

Andrew Fleury, CEO Luna Systems, said:

“The presence of this MEC capability in DCU Alpha, opens up a whole new field of research and commercialisation opportunities for Luna. Our computer vision safety technology for micromobility already operates on the ‘edge’, meaning our technology is computing safety parameters in real-time on the scooter or bike equipped with Luna hardware. The Cellnex infrastructure brings this opportunity to the next level, by allowing us to investigate how 5G and mobile edge computing could ensure fast, reliable communication between road infrastructure, vehicular traffic, micromobility riders and pedestrians to reduce collisions”.

.IE Domain Profile Report 2022 reveals reputational strength of .ie domains

Launched today, the .IE Domain Profile Report 2022 reveals there were almost 330,000 .ie domain names in the database by the end of last year with 48,168 new .ie domains registered in 2022. Now in its eighth year, the .IE Domain Profile Report is an annual exploration of the .ie database and is published by .IE, the national registry for .ie domain names. The report also outlines key advantages that can be leveraged by Irish enterprise with a .ie domain.

Cyber attacks

.IE  provides an additional layer of security to owners of a .ie domain name, free of charge. This service provides a constant scanning of .ie sites and involves instant notification to an SME’s hosting provider, who can help them take the corrective action once a scam has been detected. The report revealed over 500 cyber-attacks were taken down in 2022. Two in five were phishing scams and one in four were malware attacks.

Despite a significant increase in cyber-attacks, websites featuring a security certificate were down six percentage points resulting in more websites being vulnerable to attack. This level of security is crucial to safeguard customer’s data.

The report indicated that threats to a .ie domain are lower than other top level domain names such as .com. Only individuals and businesses with a provable connection to Ireland can register a .ie domain. Applications from new customers are manually reviewed to ensure that they meet this requirement. This process keeps the .ie domain largely free from scams and other illegal activities. 91% of .ie domain names are registered on the island of Ireland, with the total number of internationally registered .ie domains under 30,000. Top international registrants are from Great Britain (10,983), United States (5,117) and Germany (2,535).

Speaking at the launch of the report David Curtin, Chief Executive of .IE said; “At .IE it is a priority to proactively tackle abuse in the .ie namespace to protect both SMEs and their customers. The findings of our .IE Domain Profile Report highlight some security vulnerabilities of .ie profiles, but also demonstrates where we provide enhanced supports to help Ireland’s digital economy thrive.

Our .IE Tipping Point Report 2022 also revealed that SMEs who invested in their online services since Covid, 30% (1 in 3) were busier than they were before the pandemic and 36% maintained the same level of business. SMEs are facing a new wave of economic challenges post Covid but with over 50% planning a significant digital investment in the next five years, we want to make sure they are investing in that digitalisation smartly and are aware of the necessary security features to implement.”

The trustworthiness of a .ie domain is also internationally recognised by The SpamHaus Project, an international non-profit organisation that tracks spam and related cyber threats. They collate a Badness Index for top level domains in real-time with .ie currently listed with a perfect rating of 0.0% in comparison with .com with a Badness Index of 2.5%.

Regional Growth

  • The report identified the counties experiencing the largest growth in new .ie domain registrations, a positive ‘forward-indicator’ of increased regional economic activity, with Tyrone recording the largest growth for 2022 v 2019 at 73.4%. Tipperary came in second overall, with 26.5% growth
  • Mayo had the largest had the largest growth (+24.1%) for any county in Connaught, followed by Galway at 8.4% adding 2,303 new domains
  • Wexford came out on top in Leinster with an 18.2% increase. Amongst the border counties, Monaghan had the largest percentage growth (+8.4%)

Post Covid Growth

The report also indicates that the Covid surge of digital mobilisation has tapered off, identifying a drop in new .ie registrations year-on-year (-22.6% v 2021). This is much less significant at 4% (2022 v 2019) when compared to more normal pre-pandemic levels and demonstrates that SMEs continue to use websites as a core part of their business with the benefits far outweighing a social media ‘shop front’.

Speaking at the launch, Pat Kane, Founder of Reuzi.ie commented, “When I founded my business in 2018 my objective was to inform and inspire people across Ireland, making sustainability more accessible, affordable, and fun. In the process of selecting a domain name for my website it was crucial that I had access to something that represented my business as truly Irish. I chose a .ie domain name because we are proud of what that means to my customers and community in Ireland and across the rest of the world – that we are an authentic Irish business doing great work.

Along with added security, trust and higher search optimisation, there is also a wider choice of available .ie domain names compared to .com. One of the longest .ie websites is 46 characters long at residentialroofingandlandscapingspecialistcork.ie with one of the shortest just one character at w.ie.

The .IE Domain Profile Report can be viewed here.