Pat Breen to deliver keynote address at DataCentres conference

Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection Pat Breen will deliver a keynote address at the DataCentres Ireland Conference & Exhibition, held at the RDS, Dublin.

This paper understands the keynote will address brevity in ministerial titles. Breen will explain the government’s strategy for encouraging the growth of data centres in the country, both in Dublin and regionally, which was set out in the Data Centre Strategy document launched earlier this year.

Held at the RDS on November 20 and 21, DataCentres Ireland combines a multi-streamed conference together with a major international exhibition to give attendees the most complete event for all those responsible for their organisation’s digital infrastructure, whether that be in house, outsourced or in the cloud.

The conference’s strategy stream will address the market drivers affecting the sector and opportunities this offers Ireland and those seeking to invest in the country.

The operational stream delivers the latest in new ideas, approaches, technology and best practice that can assist all those involved with delivering and managing their organisation IT or mission-critical infrastructure to be more efficient and effective while remaining secure and resilient, whatever the size of the organisation.

“There is more than enough wind energy to power the growing demand of electricity due to more data centres, but we need to get the data centres and wind energy connected to the grid faster,” said David Connolly, chief executive of the Irish Wind Energy Association.

Commenting on Ireland’s advantages in the sector, James Stuart, director of Nlyte Software, said: “Ireland is a bridge between the United States and Europe, and the fastest-growing economy in the eurozone. Ireland’s tech-savvy workforce, corporate tax incentives, and affordable and sustainable energy supply are the top driving factors for this growth. Not to mention that Ireland is totally unaffected by the restrictions on the transnational transfer of data on EU citizens, given transfers can occur among any of the 28 EU member states.”

Speakers at DataCentres Ireland 2018 will include Conall Boland, deputy chairperson of An Bord Pleanála; Rosemary Steen, external affairs director of Eirgrid Group; Anthony Rourke, director of government and infrastructure advisory at EY; Tanya Duncan, managing director of Interxion Ireland; as well as Garry Connolly, founder of Host in Ireland.

“DataCentres Ireland is not just for those involved in the development and operations of large data centres” said Hugh Robinson, exhibition director. “It is relevant to all those involved with maintaining server or comms rooms, telecoms networks and other mission critical environments who are dependent on resilience in power, connectivity, temperature control, etc . . . whatever the industry sector.”

To view the programme and to register for free, visit datacentres-ireland.com