Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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50. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which he and his Department engage with local authorities regarding the development of digital hubs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53877/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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My Department has invested in the development of enterprise hubs and digital hubs through the various regional enterprise funds which drive implementation of the nine Regional Enterprise Plans.

Approximately 40 Enterprise Centres/Hubs have been funded under these schemes and are at various stages of development. Enterprise Centres are primarily focussed on providing spaces for start-ups, providing training, collaborative spaces, aiding innovation and supporting digitalisation.

A key feature and strength of the Regional Enterprise Plans is that they are developed using a ‘bottom-up’ approach, developed by regional stakeholders, including local authorities, who are keenly aware of the growth opportunities and vulnerabilities in their region, and of the benefits of working collaboratively to enhance their enterprise ecosystem. Implementation of the Regional Enterprise Plans to 2024 is underway by Steering Groups in each of the nine regions.

The Deputy may wish to note that as part of the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), the European Commission and EU Member States will establish and co-fund a network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs). These hubs will support digital transformation in SMEs and public sector organisations by encouraging the adoption of the latest advances in the three DIGITAL key technologies of Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing. EDIHs will serve as “one-stop-shops” providing access to technical expertise and experimentation, as well as innovation services, and the training and skills development necessary for successful digital transformation.

The European Union is investing over €700 million to co-fund the EU-wide network of hubs. Each Irish hub is set to receive annual funding of €1.9 million from both the EU and the Irish Government under the National Recovery and Resilience Facility.

There are four candidate EDIHs in Ireland:

- FactoryxChange (FxC) led by the EI funded Irish Manufacturing Research in Mullingar to accelerate factories to become ‘Factories of the Future’ embracing the ecological, digital, and societal challenges;

- CeADAR led by Ireland’s EI/IDA Technology Centre in Applied Data Analytics and Machine Intelligence (based in UCD) which will aim to focus on supporting Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation in SMEs and public-service organisations;

- ENTIRE led by Tyndall National Institute Cork to help SMEs and start-ups to become more competitive in their business/production processes using digital technologies such as IoT and sensors;

- DATA2SUSTAIN led by Atlantic Technological University Sligo, which aims to increase the transformation capacity of SMEs in the Northern and Western Region with a focus on circular economy, operations and sustainability areas.

It is hoped to open the first two EDIHs by the end of the year.

The Deputy may also wish to note that the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD) operate a number of funding streams and initiatives which are available to projects supporting digital hubs throughout the country.

To date that Department has invested over €100M to support the establishment, improvement and sustainability of hubs. This includes a c.€14 million funding allocation to almost 200 projects via the Connected Hubs fund, enabling successful applicants to add additional capacity to existing remote working infrastructure in digital hubs and Broadband Connection Points throughout the country. The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme also both support the establishment of digital hubs.

In May 2021, my colleague, Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Rural and Community Development, launched the National Hub Network. The Network includes a range of digital hubs catering for a wide variety of remote and co-working needs.

I have been advised that DRCD officials have been consulting with digital hub managers across the country, with local authorities and communities, and with other department and external stakeholders, to better inform the future strategic direction of the National Hub Network and the connectedhubs.ie platform.