Irish Software Companies Win Increased UK Sales

This is in stark contrast to the position that prevailed just ten years ago, when exports of software by indigenous companies amounted to less than €100 million."

These were the comments of Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan T.D. when she addressed a networking dinner in the Irish Embassy in London for Irish financial software and services companies and their British customers.

The event was organised by Enterprise Ireland, and is part of a major marketing drive in the UK to promote Ireland as a source of software supply, with a focus on the financial, telecommunications, public sector and eLearning sectors.

Globally, Irish-owned software, services and emerging sectors have continued to outperform overall market growth, with an increase in exports in 2007 of 13.8 % resulting in total exports of over €2 billion.

Exports to the UK accounted for approximately 40 % or €792 million.

Ireland is the single biggest exporter of software solutions in Europe and one of the top three software exporters in the world. IT products from Irish-owned companies are deployed to every continent by many of the world's leading businesses, financial services firms, governments and corporate organisations.

Currently, around 300 Irish-owned software companies are doing business in Britain and around the world.

Irish companies at the dinner are targeting a variety of UK markets, including financial services, telecoms, eLearning, digital media and the public sector.

Those present at the dinner were: Validsoft (a global leader in countering sophisticated electronic crime); Daon (a leading provider of biometric security solutions); Skillsoft (on-line computer & internet based training); OSG Group (financial services claims and administration services); Skupe-Net (helps companies to maximise the effectiveness of their classified advertising strategies); Columba GlobalSystems (rapid search and retrieve technology for information management); Process Master (simplified business processes for operational improvement); Helix Health (primary healthcare software); Avvio (online reservation and marketing software for hotels and serviced accommodation providers); Car Trawler (online car hire reservations aggregator for the travel, hotel & airline business) and 1800Hotels (on-line Hotel booking website).