Ireland gets serious about the cloud.

• Position: CLOUD - Cloud computing

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Like many countries, Ireland is looking to the cloud for new growth opportunities. The government committed 5 million [euro] ($6.7 million U.S.) to fund a cloud computing technology research center.

The Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce (IC4), housed at Dublin City University, is meant to help speed up the development and adoption of cloud technology in Ireland. That means more jobs within the Irish IT sector.

"Cloud computing is already a significant part of the overall market for information technology and services and is now one of the fastest growing segments of the market. That why as part of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs we have specifically targeted this sector for jobs and growth in the coming years," explained Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.

According to its website, IC4 differs from other university-based research centers in that it is both multi-institutional and inter-disciplinary, including researchers from computing, business, and law. Its industry panel includes such recognizable players as IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and Fujitsu.

IC4's research agenda focuses on four broad, core research themes that the industry participants consider to be of equal importance; no distinction is made between...