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The park, which is looking to attract a mix of overseas and Irish-owned technology and knowledge-driven businesses, cost IEP7.5 million to develop with IEP5.4 million of the total expenditure going on two 40,000 square foot buildings. Planning permission has been also been granted for a third similarly sized building.
One of the buildings is home to Shannon Development's business innovation facility, now called InnovationWorks. Seven businesses, including Aspen Workflow, Assess Ireland, Interwave Communications Ireland, PulseLearning, Saorgus Energy, Winsoft and CIS Project, are already in situ and employ 80 people between them. An eighth company, Stockbyte, is expected to move into the complex next week. All of the businesses are predominately Irish-owned, said Shannon Development, who developed the technology park.
According to the development organisation the new facility is "technology rich" and capable of incubating and nurturing businesses, particularly those in the technology sector.
The telecoms infrastructure is based on high-specification cabling and high-speed Internet access is provided to each client via a dedicated 2MB leased line, according to Shannon Development. "State-of-the-art presentation and meeting rooms are also provided and are connected directly to clients' internal networks for ease-of-use," the company said in a statement.
"This is why this facility is so important in guaranteeing the long-term future of both Kerry and the entire country," commented Kerry South TD and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law reform, John O'Donoghue, who opened the Park. "It is through the judicious use of technology that we can continue to stay ahead of the competition. The Park will give invaluable assistance in this regard, by seeking to attract technology-based investment to the Kerry area."
The Minister added that the county's remoteness could also be overcome through the use of technology. "While Ireland and Tralee might geographically still be on the periphery of Europe, in every other way they are the core of Europe. Central to this transformation is our embracing of the latest technologies as a means of addressing peripherality," said the Minister O'Donoghue.
The Kerry Technology Park is also to become part of a network of Irish technology locations. Shannon Development also launched a new brand, Shannon Development Knowledge Network, on Friday that will see five technology parks in the region come under the one banner.
Apart from Tralee, the locations are the National Technology Park in Limerick, Tipperary Technology Park, Information Age Park in Clare and Birr Technology Centre in Offaly. "With Kerry Technology Park now up and running and a series of additional technology locations coming on stream, we wanted to ensure that our ultimate goal of linking these locations as a network to create a truly synergistic technology environment within the Shannon region would be achieved," explained Kevin Thompstone, chief executive of Shannon Development.
Each of the locations in the Knowledge Network will have an Innovation Works facility, added Thompstone.
Shannon Development can be found at http://www.shannondev.ie.
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