Calls for AI centre of excellence in Galway – ‘This is about bringing the best minds in tech, pharma and enterprise together’
A call for an artificial intelligence hub to be established in the western region has been made by a Galway TD.
Albert Dolan, TD for Galway East, is calling for a strategic focus on an artificial intelligence hub in Galway saying, “whatever comes in this Western Regional Enterprise Plan is that it has to have a significant dedication to AI and a significant consideration for AI.”
The West Regional Enterprise Plan involves the three counties of Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon under four local authorities.
Deputy Dolan referenced other major projects, like the Google AI Hub in London, citing benefits from “how it can accelerate an area’s ability to adapt to AI” as well as local places like the PorterShed in the heart of Galway City.
The PorterShed opened in 2022 as a collaboration space for international business and start-up companies. The space recently began taking applications for AI Venture Forge – a programme designed for tech and innovation teams to be educated on the infiltration of AI into the workspace.
“This is about bringing the best minds in tech, pharma, MedTech, and enterprise in the West of Ireland to a central location where they can thrive.”
The hub would be a “centre of excellence” where “researchers” and others who want to “innovate with AI” or “form new use cases for AI across our society” will gather to make the West a global competitor.
He says: “AI does pose a massive threat to many knowledge worker roles, and to ignore that is actually reckless.”
“We need not see it as a threat, we need to see it as an opportunity, and we need to embrace it and run with it.
“I think all ships rise with the tide. If Galway successfully adapts to AI, and that has economic benefits for local companies and local businesses, then what you’ll see is Galway being a place where people want to attract more talent to the area,” the outcome of such will be a “better economy for Galway which will have a spinoff effect in all the surrounding town and villages.”
TD Alan Dillon, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment responded to Deputy Dolan’s call in the Dáil agreeing with the points made saying the plan needed to be a “collaborative initiative” focused on “digitalisation and decarbonisation.”
Galway has a “good story to be told in relation to sectorial growth around ICT, Agri-tech, and MedTech” where AI will be central to indigenous and FDI investment into the future.”
As Galway continues to grow in these enterprise circles Deputy Dolan asks, “Are we going to run with AI and use AI to our advantage so that we can have a competitive edge over other countries who fail to adapt? Or are we going to be left behind?”