Great to see Minister Bruton focussing on technology and innovation, see below.

Company previously backed by Government achieves 1,000,000 customers after
150 days

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton recently opened the new expanded offices of SkillPages, a high-growth Irish social networking company which has achieved a million members after 150 days, to meet its founders and discuss the environment for tech start-ups in Ireland.

The company, founded in 2010, has offices in Dublin and Silicon Valley. It is a professional social network which attempts to bring together people looking for skills with people who have those skills. It has received support from Enterprise Ireland and some of its innovative ideas have derived from academic research in CLARITY, a research centre in UCD funded by Science Foundation Ireland.

Minister Bruton:

“I am determined that, in order to get jobs and the economy growing again, we must dramatically change the type of economy we have in Ireland. Where once we depended on speculation, we must now rely on innovation as the
basis of future growth.

“This weekend I returned from a week-long trade mission to Silicon Valley, where I saw first hand the highly innovative companies which are driving spectacular growth in the global technology boom. We in Ireland must not
only build on our traditional strengths to attract more of these companies here, but also learn from the highly innovative companies we already have here to drive a generation of Irish start-ups.

“Today I am delighted to see in SkillPages the great success that can come from a combination of government support, partnership with universities, and innovative people.

“I will be listening closely to hear what more government can do to support start-up companies like this to ensure that home-grown innovation can drive a generation of start-up companies and get jobs and the economy growing again”.

About SkillPages

SkillPages, the skill based social network, is transforming the way people with skills connect to the people who need them. The platform brings together your real life friends and social connections to help you find skilled people you can trust and also, to get found by people who need your skills. Over 1,000,000 people have joined SkillPages, finding skilled people they can trust and getting found by new customers, employers, business partners and more.

Since launching the SkillPages platform in January 2011, the company has been growing exponentially, with hundreds of thousands of people joining every month. SkillPages is a privately held company with offices in Dublin, Ireland and Palo Alto, CA.

See: www.SkillPages.com

About CLARITY

CLARITY is a multi-disciplinary research centre based at University College Dublin. It is a partnership between University College Dublin, Dublin City University and Tyndall Institute at University College Cork, funded by Science Foundation Ireland.

It reflects an ambitious vision to spearhead the evolution of the new science that is emerging at the intersection between two important research areas – Adaptive Sensing and Information Discovery.

CLARITY aims to lead to the development of innovative new technologies of critical importance to Irish industry in areas such as personal health, digital media and the environment, which will impact positively on the quality of life of people.

For more see – www.clarity-centre.org