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28-12-11 Digital Hub Companies Demonstrating Continued Strong Growth |
Strong growth in digital media companies and advances in digital learning are among the positive developments of 2011, according to the end-of-year statement issued today (28.12.11) by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA).
According to Philip Flynn, Chief Executive Officer of the DHDA, “The relevance and importance of digital media in the classroom, is now paramount not just for the internet sector, but for every business. Looking back on 2011, we have strong evidence to suggest that companies operating in this sphere are on the crest of a wave of growth. However, they need a strong pipeline of digital skills from prospective employees to harness every opportunity. This is why the Digital Hub has – over the past year – placed a renewed emphasis on mainstreaming digital learning through formal and informal education programmes.”
1.0 Success of Enterprise
Reflecting on the success of companies located at the Digital Hub, Mr Flynn said, “Companies in The Digital Hub continued to demonstrate strong growth throughout 2011, with many anticipating further expansion next year. Their success is due to their flexibility, their capacity and drive for relentless innovation; and their focus on overseas markets.
“Many of the products and services offered by Digital Hub companies weren’t even in existence five years ago,” he said. “We have seen huge growth in the past year in companies that develop apps for smart phones and tablet computers, for example. And many of these are companies that have been around for a while – but they were flexible and innovative enough to adapt to changing marketplaces and to meet new consumer demands.
“During 2011, many of the companies located at The Digital Hub also won business contracts overseas. Roamware, for example, is now working with a number of major organisations in Africa and the Middle East, while the likes of Kavaleer, payByMobile and Redwind Software have also expanded their business operations in overseas markets.
“Even, more importantly, these companies are all predicting continued growth in 2012. This is further proof that the digital content and technology sector is a key driver for Ireland’s economic recovery. These companies, a majority of which in The Digital Hub are Irish indigenous companies, are setting the trends in knowledge and practice leadership in internet business which is shaping Ireland’s digital future today,” said Mr Flynn.
There are over 70 companies currently located at The Digital Hub, including animation, design, learning, multimedia, e-commerce, software, gaming and mobile technology companies providing 800 highly skilled jobs. Eighteen new companies joined The Digital Hub in 2011 and the Hub Campus recorded an office occupancy rate of 95% which is effectively full capacity. Over 160 companies altogether have progressed through the Digital Hub since its inception in 2003 employing more than 2000 people today – notable among these include, PopCap, Gala Games, Havok, (Riverdeep) HoughtonMiflin, Amazon and Daft.ie.
Key achievements of a selection of Hub companies over the past 12 months include the following:
Redwind Software
Redwind Software is a multi-award-winning games and software development studio, which moved to The Digital Hub in February 2011. Since then, its two-man team had grown to six, and the company is planning further grown in 2012. Key highlights for Redwind Software during 2011 included:
- Being one of the first 10 companies to receive investment under Enterprise Ireland’s new Internet and Games Competitive Start Fund.
- Being accepted onto iGAP 3 (Internet Growth Acceleration Programme), one of the most prestigious start-up accelerator programmes in Ireland, aimed exclusively at high-potential internet / games companies.
- Winning the Appy award for ‘Best Game’ for the second year running.
- Working on multiple high-profile apps for the likes of Heinken USA and Bacardi USA.
- Working on the official ‘Name That Movie’ app for iPhone, due for release in early 2012.
Kavaleer Productions
Kavaleer Productions is one of Ireland’s leading animation companies, and has been located at The Digital Hub since the Hub project was launched in 2004. During 2011, Kavaleer celebrated its 10th birthday and announced the creation of 30 new positions in 2012 – positions created directly as a result of the company’s international workload. Other key successes for Kavaleer during the past 12 months included:
- Producing 52 episodes of ‘Abadas’ for CBeebies, RTÉjr and S4C.
- Continued success with its flagship series ‘Garth and Bev’.
- Producing an iPad app for ‘Sesame Street’.
Roamware
Roamware provides mobile roaming solutions and in the past 12 months, the company won a number of significant overseas contracts, including with:
- A mobile operator in Egypt.
- A major banking group in Nigeria.
- Independent mobile money and financial service-providers in Kenya and Nigeria.
Employee numbers rose at Roamware over the course of 2011, and the company is predicting further growth for 2012.
payByMobile
payByMobile has been based at The Digital Hub since 2009. During 2011, the company launched in the UK market. Its service there allows all adults in the UK to use their mobile phones to deposit funds and collect winnings at PaddyPower.com. Mobile betting has become a major growth area for Paddy Power in recent years, with 44 per cent of online customers now also conducting transactions via mobile devises. payByMobile delivers the mobile payment option to drive further growth in this area.
2.0 Digital Media Learning
According to Philip Flynn, “The importance of digital media skills in capitalising on business opportunities cannot be under-estimated. We know – from companies based at The Digital Hub – that finding suitably qualified and skilled employees can be a challenge, even during this period of mass unemployment.
“Over the past year, we have worked in the classroom, with school leavers and with unemployed people in to digitalise their skills and increase competencies to match the requirements of our companies. We have also instigated a programme that matches graduates from our learning programmes to positions – through a structured internship – within Digital Hub companies.
Over the past year, the Agency has worked with another Hub company – Digital Skills Academy – to deliver a new programme called ‘WebElevate’ in learning studios on the Hub Campus. Under this programme, job seekers participate in a degree accredited training and employment-based programme whereby they advance their digital skills and apply them to product development in other digital media companies based at the Hub. This has resulted in many participants moving into full-time employment in the sector. The WebElevate programme is a follow-on from the WebActivate programme – also run by The Digital Skills Academy in conjunction with The Digital Hub which commenced in 2010 and completed early in 2011– this was a unique programme which offered conversion digital media skills to job-seekers from the live register and then placed them in indigenous small businesses to help them ‘activate’ or expand a web presence. In all almost 200 people participated in the programme with 55% of them finding employment within 6 months of completion - almost 600 companies benefitted from the programme. www.digitalskillsacademy.com/courses/webactivate/
“Next year, we look forward to the expansion of our learning models, in particular, our approach to classroom-based learning beyond the confines of Dublin 8. One of the keys to recovery is digital media skills, and the school setting – in our experience – is one of the best places to embed this,” added Mr Flynn.
ENDS
Contact: Catherine Heaney / Martina Quinn, DHR Communications, Tel: 087-2309835 / 087-6522033
Notes:
Representatives from Redwind Software, Kavaleer Productions, Roamware and payByMobile are available for media interviews. To arrange an interview, please contact DHR Communications on the above numbers.
About The Digital Hub
The Digital Hub is an Irish government initiative aimed at creating an international centre of excellence for digital content and technology enterprises. It is located in Dublin’s south-west inner city, and is home to over 70 digital enterprises, ranging from start-ups to well-established businesses, which are significant employers and leaders in their fields. The Digital Hub Development Agency is the Irish state agency that manages the Digital Hub project.
