Tag: readiness

Bord Iascaigh Mhara invites applications for 2026 Aquatech Innovation Studio, AquaScale

Ireland has the potential to be a major hub for global aquaculture innovation and scale-up, with 76 Irish companies now generating an estimated €165 million in value and supporting more than 900 full-time jobs, according to Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency.

Announcing the opening of applications for the 2026 Aquatech Innovation Studio, AquaScale – which this year will focus on supporting established companies scale up – BIM’s Aquatech Business Manager, Damien Toner said it will build on the proven success of the BIM Aquatech Innovation Studio platform which has supported 66 start-ups and helped raise over €28 million in investment since 2018.

The intensive three-day programme will take place in Galway from 26–28 May 2026, with applications closing on 31 March 2026,

According to Damien Toner, AquaScale represents a strategic evolution, designed specifically for companies already active in the market. The programme is targeting applications from Aquatech enterprises preparing for their next phase of commercial growth.

He said, “Ireland’s Aquatech sector continues to demonstrate innovation and growing technical depth. With 76 companies now generating an estimated €165 million in value and supporting more than 900 full-time jobs, the sector is steadily strengthening its economic and scientific contribution both nationally and internationally.

“As global demand for sustainable aquaculture production accelerates – particularly in high-value sectors such as salmon and shrimp – Ireland is well positioned to supply advanced technologies and expertise to international markets. Through initiatives like AquaScale, BIM is focused on ensuring that ambitious Irish Aquatech companies have the strategic clarity and commercial capability required to compete and scale globally.”

Unlike early-stage accelerators, AquaScale is not a pitch competition. Instead, it is a focused, market-driven intervention aimed at strengthening strategic clarity, commercial positioning, and execution readiness for expansion.

The 2026 programme will once again be delivered in partnership with leading global aquaculture accelerator Hatch Blue.

The BIM Aquatech Innovation Studio has laid a strong foundation for aquaculture innovation in Ireland. “AquaScale signals that we are ready for the next level,” said Jessica Giannoumis, Hatch Blue’s Aquatech Community Manager for Ireland. “Designed for commercially active companies preparing to expand, the programme strengthens strategic focus, commercial positioning, and execution readiness. AquaScale supports Ireland’s most ambitious aquatech companies as they deepen market traction and scale more deliberately in international markets.”

AquaScale forms part of BIM’s Aquatech Development Programme and is supported by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (2021–2027).

Programme Objectives

AquaScale aims to:

  • Position Ireland as a launchpad for globally competitive aquaculture scale-ups.
  • Accelerate commercial traction and reduce risk for companies entering new markets.
  • Strengthen go-to-market, competitive positioning, and expansion strategies.

What Makes AquaScale Different

  • Market-first, not tech-first.
  • Strategic clarity and execution support — not a pitch programme.
  • Designed for companies already selling and preparing to scale.
  • Equity-free, no participation fee, with a limited cohort of 8–10 companies.

Who Should Apply?

AquaScale is designed for companies that:

  • Are already active in the market with customers, pilots, or revenue.
  • Are preparing for expansion or market refocus (not first market entry).
  • Need honest, peer-level strategic discussion and rigorous commercial pressure-testing.

By focusing on scale-stage challenges, AquaScale reflects BIM’s commitment to strengthening Ireland’s aquaculture innovation ecosystem — not only supporting new ventures, but ensuring high-potential companies are equipped to compete and grow internationally.

Applications are now open, with the deadline set for 31 March 2026.

For further information and application details, visit https://www.hatch.blue/programs/aquascale

Core42 Establishes European Headquarters in Dublin

Core42, a G42 company specializing in sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure, today announced the establishment of its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The news was shared at Investopia, the UAE’s global investment platform, which is hosting its global dialogue series in Dublin this week. The new headquarters strengthens Core42’s ability to serve European enterprises and governments seeking secure, high-performance infrastructure to scale AI adoption.

Core42 was founded in 2023 by G42 to build globally relevant infrastructure for large-scale AI. The company focuses on sovereign cloud, advanced compute platforms, and hyperscale AI environments that support production-grade AI across sectors. Core42 partners with Microsoft, NVIDIA, AMD, Cerebras, and other global ecosystem leaders to ensure customers have access to the latest accelerators, models, and architectures.

Through its AI Cloud platform, Core42 provides fast, self-service access to high-performance compute for training, inference, and large-scale experimentation. Its services portfolio, managed delivery functions, and AI solutioning capabilities support customers through cloud modernization, data readiness, and the full AI adoption lifecycle.

Since 2024, Core42 has expanded its European presence through a series of large-scale sovereign compute initiatives. In France, Core42 partnered with Data One and Oreus to deliver a national-scale AI infrastructure deployment in Grenoble that supports high-performance enterprise and public sector workloads. In Italy, the company collaborated with Domyn to build Europe’s largest AI compute cluster, creating a strong foundation for an AI-first economy and accelerating the region’s ability to scale advanced AI solutions.

Establishing the European headquarters in Dublin marks the next phase of this expansion. The office will act as the regional hub for customer delivery, engineering leadership, regulatory engagement, and ecosystem partnerships. It positions Core42 to work more closely with European institutions and industry leaders as demand for scalable AI infrastructure accelerates across key sectors.

Commenting on the milestone, Talal M. Al Kaissi, Interim CEO of Core42, said: “Europe is a central part of Core42’s global expansion strategy. Establishing our headquarters in Dublin gives us the operational base to support growing demand for high-performance AI infrastructure and to work more closely with customers and partners as they scale production-grade AI across key sectors.”

Also at Investopia, Core42 together with Emerging Markets Intelligence and Research (EMIR), released a report that explores the infrastructure, policy, and investment conditions required for Europe to accelerate its AI capabilities. The report draws on comparative insights from the rapid AI scale-up in the UAE and provides practical guidance for governments, investors, and enterprises developing sovereign-aligned AI ecosystems. To download the report, click here.

Core42 will begin formal operations in Dublin in early 2026, with plans to expand engineering, customer success, and partner ecosystem teams throughout the year.

Ireland’s Digital Readiness Monitor Launched

.ie, the trusted national registry for over 330,000 domain names, has launched Ireland’s Digital Readiness Monitor, which analyses the level of digital sophistication of websites in Ireland, and has revealed that 36% of websites in Ireland have a low or very low level of sophistication.

Ireland’s Digital Readiness Monitor which includes websites using the .ie domain, as well as those using .com, .co.uk or any other extension, presents a comprehensive picture of Ireland’s digital readiness with research conducted by .ie in partnership with the Irish Institute of Digital Business, DCU and the JE Cairnes School of Business and Economics at University of Galway.

The Digital Readiness Monitor introduces a new national measure of digital readiness – the Web Technology Intensity Score (WTIS). The WTIS is comprised of eleven indicators that measure the digital readiness of organisations in Ireland including basic website; website with sophisticated functionality; websites with evidence of basic analytics, sophisticated analytics, social media integration, mobile optimisation, online advertising, sophisticated online advertising, internationalisation, selling online and cloud computing.

The Government’s digital strategy, Harnessing Digital: The Digital Ireland Framework, aims to position Ireland as a European and global digital leader. SMEs make up the majority of Irish businesses and the ability of Irish SMEs to adopt sophisticated digital technologies will be fundamental to increasing Ireland’s digital competitiveness.

The report reveals that 36% of websites in Ireland have a low or very low level of sophistication despite various Government grants and programmes to support digital advancement. A website and associated technologies are a proxy for an organisation’s degree of digitalisation, so this statistic demonstrates that SMEs’ websites are under-developed.

At the other end of the spectrum, one in four websites (27%) have a high or very high level of sophistication, showing there is considerable room for improvement.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke said “Ireland has outlined its ambition to be a digital leader, reflecting the key role that digital technology does and will continue to play in shaping our competitiveness and driving productivity. The findings of this report demonstrates that we must continue to drive the digital agenda, ensuring digitalisation and technology remains a priority across all facets of Irish enterprise. My department has implemented a number of grants to support SMEs on their digital transformation – the Digital Transition Fund which will continue to be rolled out to 2026 is particularly supportive of SMEs while the Grow Digital portal is up and running to help businesses assess their digital needs. Together with my colleagues in Government, we remain committed to supporting enterprise in Ireland.”

Speaking on the report findings, David Curtin, Chief Executive at .ie said “The development of the WTIS measure marks a significant step forward in understanding the levels of sophistication of websites in Ireland. Despite the many Government supports in place, it is dispiriting to see that 36% of websites in Ireland have a low or very low Web Technology Intensity Score. For Irish SMEs, digital technologies present the potential of the ‘death of distance’, overcoming the limitations of location for Irish rural and urban businesses. However, there is evidence of a digital divide based on location, sector and size. In order to drive increased adoption of digital technologies by all businesses, but specifically micro SMEs with less than 10 employees, a supportive digital ecosystem optimised for SMEs is going to be required and we need the financial support of Government and key stakeholders to help make that happen.

 Ireland’s Digital Readiness Monitor – Key Findings

 Online Advertising

  • Less than 1% of websites in Ireland make use of sophisticated online advertising tools which utilise targeting techniques to reach specific audience segments
  • The WTIS measured both basic and more sophisticated forms of online advertising being utilised by websites in Ireland

Social Media and Mobile Friendliness

  • The vast majority of websites in Ireland made use of social media integration on their websites
  • Facebook integrated into over 86% of websites analysed in 2021 and 74% in 2022 followed by Twitter (avg. 33%), Instagram (avg. 22%), LinkedIn (15%), and YouTube (13%)
  • Integrating social media into websites acts as a form of social proof, where users can see real-time interactions with the organisation. The motivation for more sophisticated use of social technologies includes increased access and reach to markets, cost reduction and process optimisation
  • It was also reassuring to see that Irish businesses recognise the value of mobile optimisation as part of their offering. While the percentage of domains optimised for mobile has dropped from 68% to 63%, the raw number of mobile-friendly domains has increased suggesting that Irish firms recognise the importance of mobile readiness. Google reports that for many advertisers, a substantial volume of website traffic comes from people on their mobile phones and visitors are five times more likely to leave a website that is not mobile-friendly

 Internationalisation

  • The WTIS measures foreign language support and foreign currency support as signals for internationalisation.
  • These factors indicate an organisation’s commitment to expanding its presence in the global market along with an ambition to move beyond local or regional markets
  • The Digital Readiness Monitor found that less than 10% of websites demonstrate evidence of international activity

Associate Dean of Research, DCU Business School, Professor Theo Lynn said “The Digital Readiness Monitor is a critical methodology and tool for understanding the digital landscape in Ireland. By establishing the Web Technology Intensity Score (WTIS), we can now quantitatively assess and track the digital sophistication and evolution of organisations across the country and compare it with other countries. This study not only highlights the gaps in digital adoption but also provides a roadmap for improvement. In a rapidly evolving digital economy, such insights are essential for guiding SMEs and other businesses in leveraging technology to enhance their competitiveness, both locally and on the global stage.”

Ireland’s Digital Readiness Monitor can be viewed here.