Bell Labs to create 70 new high-tech jobs in Dublin expansion

Bell Labs also said the expansion announced today, which is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland, will generate more opportunities for Irish academia and industry to use its Irish facilities and gain access to its global network.

Since its establishment in 2005, Bell Labs in Ireland has collaborated with both the Irish academic and business communities through an Open Innovation programme in strategic areas such as telecommunications, supply chain and the environment.

The expansion of Bell Lab’s Irish facility will allow it to focus on Alcatel-Lucent’s Green Touch Initiative, which is an open consortium of academic and commercial research institutions from around the world who are focused on creating the technologies needed to reinvent communications networks and make them 1,000 times more energy efficient than they are today.

Key role in research eco-system
“Bell Labs plays a hugely significant part in the Irish research eco-system. Its uniquely open approach to innovation and the sharing of ideas will advance technological development and accelerate growth amongst Irish companies, bolstering our long-term economic expansion,” said the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan TD.

“We are looking forward to expanding our research activities in Ireland and generating innovative technologies by taking advantage of the close relationships we have developed with the business and academic community,” said Jeong Kim, President of Bell Labs.

“Through these efforts we believe Bell Labs in Ireland will be able to contribute to the local knowledge economy and have a beneficial impact on the lives of people around the world,” he added.

Smart economy strategy
Commenting on today’s announcement, Barry O’Leary CEO IDA Ireland said: “Bell Labs is one of Ireland's first big collaborative investments and has been a tremendous success. The reputation of Bell Labs reflects Ireland’s credibility as the leading location to enable multi-party and multi-disciplinary investments. Ireland has the talent, enthusiasm and innovative capacity that encourages interconnectivity between all parties involved, which reflects the Irish Government’s smart economy strategy.”

In 2004, Bell Labs, the research division of the French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent, unveiled plans to invest €69m in a new research and development (R&D) headquarters focusing on telecoms and supply chain technologies in Blanchardstown.

The investment also included the establishment of a Centre for Telecommunications Value Chain-Driven Research (CTVR) at Trinity College Dublin.

Source for innovation
During its five years in Ireland, Bell Labs has been the source for a number of telecommunications innovations.

Bell Labs Ireland’s focus on energy management has yielded a novel 3D heat sink design that reduces the energy required to cool communications systems by more than 25pc.

The executive director of Bell Labs Ireland Sam Samuel was also one of the pioneers of the femtocell, a key component for improving communications network coverage.

Bell Labs Ireland was also instrumental in defining the new IEEE 1687 (IJTAG) standard, which simplifies the automatic on-site testing of telecom equipment, thereby improving the reliability of systems.