Engineering Industries Ireland (EII), the Ibec sub-group for the engineering sector, has committed to making Ireland a global engineering centre of excellence and to play a leading role in achieving the country's 2030 emissions targets in its 2022-25 strategy.
The group highlighted four areas in its Engineering a Better Future document in which the industry, which accounts for €8.8bn or 3.6% of Ireland's annual exports, can improve: innovation, sustainability, people and regulation.
The group set out a number of key deliverables and high-level objectives under each of the four pillars to support the development of engineering industries in Ireland over the next several years.
In innovation, in addition to making Ireland a global centre of excellence, EII aims to accelerate the pace of digital transformation to take advantage of new business opportunities with the move towards a low carbon economy, and to increase the number of engineering businesses engaging in innovative activities.
In sustainability, its goals are to encourage the sector in leading the circular economy and climate-neutral manufacturing; to help the sector target sustainable grants for sustainable investment and innovation activities; and to support sustainable and resilient supply chains.
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In people, EII aims to develop and attract future engineering talent; create deeper links with higher education and technology centres, and foster engagement and life learning to ensure a sustainable workforce.
And in regulation, it hopes to develop a reputation as a "go-to place" for insight and expert opinion on sector-specific regulation; and to improve the performance of Irish business and protect consumers through the development and roll-out of compatible industry-led standards in the quality and safety of goods and services.
EII also earmarked a number of areas for development, including embracing opportunities in sustainable development; implementing business innovation strategies; leveraging digital/AI technologies to become more data-centric; developing high level technical and engineering skills; and increasing industry participation in standard regulation development.
"Our vision is for Ireland to be a global engineering centre of excellence, where multinationals and home-grown companies collaborate strategically to help companies become more sustainable, innovate, prosper and drive economic growth," Barry Morrissey, chairperson of EII and managing director of Cartamundi Ireland & UK, said.
“The strategy highlights key goals to support the development of an innovation ecosystems for engineering industries and encourage companies to play a leading role in the development of new technologies and sustainable products and services.
“It also commits to support engineering companies to play a leading role in climate change to achieve Ireland’s 2030 emissions targets of 51% (from 2018 levels) and in the development of new sustainable products and processes."
Pauline O’ Flanagan, head of EII, added: “We encourage and embrace a progressive and value-driven regulatory ecosystem that sustains the evolution of the engineering industries in Ireland.
"Setting out the strategic pillars and key objectives of the strategy highlights the importance of collaboration for business with the wider ecosystems in order to develop a more sustainable business model for the future."
The strategy launch comes days after research from Ibec showed that 60% of companies in Ireland have increased their attention on environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives in the past year.
"From the survey findings, we can see the initial efforts in this movement. Within 65% of organisations, there is work underway on the prioritisation of ESG across the business, 53% were engaged in preparing for ESG reporting and 53% in developing activities to manage organisations energy use," Danny McCoy, CEO of Ibec, said.
The engineering sector in Ireland comprises over 10,800 enterprises, nearly two-thirds of which (65%) are indigenous companies, and employs some 50,751 people across automotive, energy and environment, construction and agriculture as well as core elements of sub supply, including machinery and equipment markets, paper and printing as well as basic and fabricated metals.
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