Found at: http://www.competitiveness.org/article/articleprint/405/-1/9/
Representatives of the public sector, universities and companies have started an initiative to make Dublin a centre for wireless technology. This Dublin Wireless Cluster Initiative's expert group includes CEOs, consultants and professors.
Among the supporting companies are Eircom, Esat BT, Bell Labs Ireland, Intel, Lucent, O2, Irish Broadband and Sigma Wireless Communications. The other particpants are Enterprise Ireland, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the Commission for Communications Regulation.
"What we have is a combination of [mobile] operators, several indigenous companies, and key international players such as Bell Labs, Motorola and Intel, I think that this is an opportunity to create an internationally recognised wireless cluster in Dublin." claims Tony Boyle of the Chamber of Commerce and executive at Sigma.
According to Boyle the expert group will publish a strategy document in February 2005 that will offer more guidance.
The basis for the new strategy document has already been laid in a report published in April 2004: it concluded that Ireland with a mobile devices industry that employs some 4,300 people has the strengths required to succeed in the area of wireless communications.
The report advised a greater collaboration between industry and academia as well as the establishment of a wireless community-based network.
It is unclear though if there is room for more wireless clusters because regions as Auckland, (Australia), Mankato (USA), Calgary (Canada), Northern Denmark and Tornio (Italy) are also trying to build similar clusters. Moreover, existing clusters like San Diego, Helsinki and Ottawa have companies like Qualcomm, Nokia and Nortel at their cores, whereas the Dublin initiative is driven by the will of industry associations and semi-state agencies.
Source: RTE