Data centres are huge catalysts for growth in the employment market, according to Sigmar Recruitment CEO Adrian McGennis, who said the demand for data storage is increasing rapidly with rising levels of online activity.

He pointed to the Hosting Digital Assets in Ireland report, conducted by Sigmar Recruitment, which found data centres tend to employ on average between 100-300 employees.

Speaking at the Host in Ireland data centre conference, he said research had shown there is a multiplier effect of employment by data centres. For every job created at a data centre an additional one is created elsewhere in the economy.

The report examines the availability of ICT Talent in Ireland, how Ireland is nurturing this talent, labour costs and salary levels of staffing a data centre and the employment impact of setting up data centres in an area.

It said existing multinationals and start-ups alike are choosing to expand their cloud computing businesses in Ireland due to the infrastructure here in terms of data centres and electricity, as well as the skills needed to grow cloud computing businesses.

Big multinationals such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon, along with a host of smaller companies all have data centres in Dublin.

Meanwhile, EMKA announced at the conference that it has launched its BioLock system in Ireland. The BioLock system is designed for data centre protection and uses a built-in fingerprint-scanning sensor for access.

It uses live finger detection technology that compares the dynamic and static image characteristics of real and fake fingers. The technology protects the EMKA Digitus system from an attack like the recent high profile break-ins with smart phones using replicas of fingerprints. It also means the fingerprint scanner won’t work if someone’s finger is chopped off as it can detect living tissue.