Stuxnet breakthrough company expands

Symantec's is creating  60 jobs at its European Operations Centre in Dublin
'New authentication services mandate is a strong vote of confidence in Symantec's Irish Operation'

Richard Bruton TD

Ireland's Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, TD, has announced that Symantec, the global leader in security, storage and systems management, is to establish a new team within its European Operations Centre in Dublin, creating 60 high quality jobs. The investment is supported by the Irish Government with the aid of IDA Ireland.

This is the company discovered that Stuxnet actually modifies code on PLCs in a potential act of sabotage and publishers earlier this year of the W32 Stuxnet Dossier.

The new team will be focused on three specific areas relating to Symantec's Identity and Authentication offerings, part of Symantec's Authentication Services business. These areas are customer authentication and verification, technical support and client services. The team will form part of Symantec's "follow the sun" model, with services and support being provided to customers across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific and Japan in over 20 languages on a 24/7 basis. Symantec's VeriSign Authentication Services provide organisations with strong proof that a user, device, or website is genuine and that information is protected. This new team is key in ensuring security through a stringent authentication and verification process and team members will speak a minimum of two European languages in order to provide services to Symantec customers across the markets they serve.

Welcoming the announcement, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Minister said: "A significant part of the real Irish economic miracle in the mid/late 1990s was our ability to tap into the global ICT boom that was going on at that time. If we are to get growth in employment and in the economy again, one part of that will involve relying on our traditional strengths, and today's announcement is a great vote of confidence in our policies. We must be far-reaching in our ambitions in this area, and I am determined to build on those traditional strengths to ensure that we can reap great rewards from the new global tech boom and get our country working again".

Commenting on the announcement, Enrique Salem, President and Chief Executive Officer of Symantec said, "Today's announcement is a major step forward for Symantec enabling us to better serve our customers by utilising local talents. Following Symantec's acquisition of VeriSign's authentication business in 2010, authentication is a key growth area for the company. The VeriSign check mark is the most recognised symbol of trust online with more than 650 million impressions every day on more than 100,000 websites in 160 countries.


The decision to locate this investment in Dublin comes as a result of the success to date of Symantec in Ireland. I would like to thank staff and management here in Dublin for making this operation such a success, and the Irish Government and IDA Ireland for their support. I look forward to seeing the continued growth of Symantec in Ireland."


Barry O'Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said, "Symantec first established an operation in Ireland in 1991 and its transformation involves new mandates, increasing the strategic importance of Symantec Ireland within its parent corporation. Transformation of this nature is in keeping with IDA's goals as outlined in our strategy, Horizon 2020. Ireland is benefiting from the overall growth in the technology sector and this investment from Symantec, a leading company in this sector, is very welcome news for the industry in Ireland. I would like to offer Symantec IDA Ireland's continued support as the company further embeds its operations here in Ireland."

Life Sciences summit

The inaugural Life Sciences International Summit (the Summit), which takes place on 11 November 2010 at Croke Park, will discuss Ireland’s potential for innovation and is expected to attract over 300 delegates including world-renowned opinion leaders, experts from pharmaceutical and fine chemicals sectors, firms producing diagnostic equipment, medical devices manufacturers and international venture capitalists.

The event is being hosted by Business & Finance Media Group and is partnered with IDA Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, PwC, ByrneWallace and MSD.

Conor Walsh

The Summit will attract Former Harvard ‘Innovator of the Year’ Conor Walsh, who now lectures at the University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Ian Quinn, founder and Chairman of Creganna-Tactx Medical. Creganna-Tactx Medical is ranked among the top 10 global providers of outsourced design and manufacturing solutions to medical device companies and is Ireland’s largest indigenous medical device company.

The event – themed Towards 2020: Harnessing the Opportunities – aims to provide an overview of the challenges facing the global life sciences sector as well as critical insights into possible developments and solutions. The Summit will showcase Ireland’s considerable achievements to date in the international life sciences arena and what the country can continue to offer international investors as a global innovation test-bed for innovation.

Stephen Simpson, Director, Life Sciences, Science Foundation Ireland commented, “This is a unique opportunity in Irish terms to access a series of speakers of international renown whose reputation for imagination and technology-based business development is peerless.”

The inaugural Life Sciences International Summit (the Summit), which takes place on 11 November 2010 at Croke Park, will discuss Ireland’s potential for innovation and is expected to attract over 300 delegates including world-renowned opinion leaders, experts from pharmaceutical and fine chemicals sectors, firms producing diagnostic equipment, medical devices manufacturers and international venture capitalists.

Further investment in healthcare plant

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Mr. Batt O'Keeffe, T.D., shares a joke with Hollister employees Helena Cleary, Josephine Mangan and Michael McNamara at the Hollister Plant in Balina where the Minister announced a major €65m expansion at the company. Looking on is Minister for Labour Affairs and Public Transformation, Mr. Dara Calleary, T.D.

The Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD has announced Hollister ULC will invest €65 million in expanding its current manufacturing facility in the west of Ireland.  This major development project will add approximately 75,000 square feet to the company’s existing manufacturing facility in Ballina and will allow the creation of 250 new jobs upon completion. The expansion project will create in the region of 200 jobs over the period of construction. The investment is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

Hollister Incorporated is an independent, employee-owned company that develops, manufacturers, and markets healthcare products and services worldwide.  Expansion of the company’s Ballina facility will allow for increased manufacturing capability in both the company’s Ostomy and Continence Care product ranges.  The expansion will further support training and development for both new and existing employees.

Minister O'Keeffe said ‘The ambitious expansion plan will have an enormous economic impact on the west of Ireland, creating 250 new jobs and strengthening the region's manufacturing backbone. In addition to this a further 200 jobs will be created in the construction of the facility. 'Hollister has been part of the business community in Ballina for almost 35 years, contributing more than €52 million annually to the Irish economy including €40 million spent on salaries and materials sourced locally in the west of Ireland.. ‘

‘Ireland hosts 15 of the world's top 25 medical devices firms and Hollister's expansion plan demonstrates to the global investor community that our economic recovery is possible and we remain an attractive location for advanced manufacturing. I look forward to building on our strong relationship with Hollister and helping the firm to grow in Ireland,' concluded Minister O’Keeffe

All planning applications and related documentation for this expansion project have been submitted, and construction is planned to begin later this year.  The project is expected to be completed before the end of 2011.

In a prepared statement, Hollister Chairman and CEO Alan F. Herbert said, “Our decision to invest in this major expansion project in Ballina was made after very thoughtful consideration.  This is a key strategic initiative for our company, and the support we have received from local business leaders and IDA lets us know that we have made the right choice for the continued success of our company and for the people who depend on our products and services.  At Hollister Incorporated, our overriding goal and commitment is to make a difference—to add value to healthcare and to improve the quality of life for the people who use our products,” Mr. Herbert said.  “Throughout our company, we use the phrase ‘Making a Difference in the Journey of Life.’  That phrase is not just a marketing slogan; it reflects our company’s commitment to help healthcare professionals deliver better products and services and to make life more rewarding and dignified for those who use our products.  It also illustrates our commitment to Ballina and Ireland.  Our expansion here will not only help us to meet current market needs; it will also help us to meet the global challenges of the 21st Century.”

IDA CEO Barry O’Leary said, ‘Today’s announcement by Hollister clearly demonstrates Ireland’s continuing ability to secure high-end manufacturing investments in the Medical Technologies Sector. Hollister has had a strong presence in Co. Mayo since 1976 and the decision to increase its workforce here by a further 250 people and invest €65 million will further embed Hollister’s existing operations here while paving the way for further growth and transformation within the company’s Irish base. I would like to take this opportunity to offer IDA’s continued support to Hollister in its future development in Ireland.’

‘This investment will greatly enhance the development of the strong established medical devices cluster in Ireland and particularly in the West of Ireland with many of the world’s leading medical devices companies located in the region.’ He concluded.

On-line liquid analysers marketing agreement.

Micheál Martin (Minister for Foreign Affairs), Hugh Cooney (Chairman Enterprise Ireland), An Taoiseach Brian Cowen, (Head of Irish Government), Nancy Horan (Director – BioTector Analytical Systems Ltd), Joe O'Shea (Director, Corporate Development – Danaher Corporation), Martin Horan (Managing Director - BioTector Analytical Systems Ltd), Richard Leggett (Principal Scientist - Hach Company), Jeff Throckmorton (Vice President Global Innovation Hach-Lange, President Hach Homeland Security Technologies – Hach Company).

BioTector Analytical Systems has recently announced a distribution agreement with Colorado (US)-based Hach Company. Hach and Hach Lange will serve as the exclusive distributor of the BioTector range of on-line liquid analyzers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe. The product will be sold in these markets under the name: Hach BioTector TOC analyzer. The agreement does not include the Irish market, as BioTector has a number of Irish Distributors who look after the local market.

The distribution agreement was announced during a Trade and Investment Mission to the U.S. led by the Taoiseach Brian Cowen. The Mission is organized by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish state agency responsible for the development and promotion of the indigenous Irish business sector.

BioTector’s on-line liquid analyzers are used in a variety of industrial applications, including dairy processing, chemical processing, oil refineries, municipal treatment plants, pharmaceutical manufacturing, airport surface water analysis, breweries, and pulp and paper manufacturing. The company’s patented oxidation technology—a two-stage advanced oxidation method—overcomes the limitations of traditional on-line analyzers and offers customers an accurate, reliable and low maintenance solution to their on-line analysis needs.

“We’re very pleased to enter into this partnership with Hach Company,” said Martin Horan, BioTector’s Managing Director. “This distribution agreement with a leading U.S. company like Hach—a significant endorsement of our technology— offers Hach customers a robust on-line liquid analysis technology that overcomes the limitations of most competing systems, which are better suited for lab rather than industrial environments. Hach’s systems, like ours, are designed specifically for quality, accuracy and simplicity, and it is this shared ethos in high standards and customer satisfaction that we believe will drive the success of this partnership.”

“We’re very pleased to be able to offer the BioTector TOC analyzer to Hach customers,” said Terry Stange, Hach Business Unit Director. “These products offer 99.7 percent uptime, +/- 3 percent accuracy, are entirely self-cleaning, and can analyze samples up to a thousand times larger than those of competing products. This will provide our customers with the benefits of reliability, measurement confidence, low maintenance and high capacity.”