The Irish software industry has the potential to triple its employment levels to over 50,000 and deliver annual revenues of €7.5 billion to the economy, it was claimed today.
Irish Software Association (ISA) chairman Bernie Cullinan says the industry, which employs some 16,000 people, could achieve international scale by 2010 if it gets "the expertise and the capital to turn brilliant innovations into internationally trading successes".
Mr Cullinan was speaking ahead of the annual Irish Software Association conference, at Dublin's Mansion House, which is focusing on the models and approaches necessary to build software companies of scale.
'To achieve true international scale, companies need to have revenues approaching the €50 million mark. . . . Creating scale for Irish indigenous software companies is crucial if they wish to play in the same field as their global industry counterparts," he said.
By giving more opportunities to companies with innovative technologies to meet the needs of public sector IT requirements, Michele Quinn, director of the ISA, said the industry could deliver value for money to the Government and the taxpayer while also boosting the reputation and revenues of indigenous software companies.