Mobile Phones Of The Future: How Huawei Is Investing Heavily In Irish R&D

There’s been some good news for Ireland’s economy recently with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei announcing a €70 million investment in Irish research and development. The work is due to be carried out over the next three years and will serve to support the company’s thriving business in Ireland. Word is that R&D will focus on the areas of cloud computing, video, site-reliability, engineering and artificial intelligence. It’s an exciting time, involving around 100 researchers, engineers and experts employed by Huawei across its R&D offices in Dublin, Athlone and Cork.

The company has long recognised that Ireland has some of the best researchers and innovative talent in the world. Its R&D efforts are diverse here, with hardware development taking place in Cork and software in Dublin in particular. The investment is welcome, presenting a fantastic opportunity for growth and the chance to boost the Irish economy as a technological hub.

The good news doesn’t end there though, with investment from Huawei set to continue long after the three years is up. The company is certainly keen to continue, building on its drive for innovation and enhanced collaboration in Ireland.

Huawei’s positive influence and investment reaches far and wide, working with several Irish third-level institutions, such as Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, University of Limerick and University College Cork. The company also works closely with some important Science Foundation Ireland centres including Adapt, Lero, Insight and Connect.

Innovation in the mobile phone market

Huawei are certainly not alone in their progressive drive for innovation, and competition in the mobile technology market is fierce. With more than 1 billion smartphone users across the world, it’s hardly surprising that manufacturers are constantly trying to outdo their rivals with the biggest and best technological advances the mobile phone market has ever seen. Smart phones are already capable of so much, but what innovative advancements are likely to come about in the future? Here we take a look at just a few.

Unbreakable Phones

You were updating Instagram whilst balancing a coffee, a baby and three shopping bags and now you watch (painfully) as your new mobile crashes to the floor. Ouch. Thankfully, tech giant Nokia is currently working on manufacturing their phones using graphene in the hope of making them virtually unbreakable. It’s considered to be one of the world’s toughest materials and is actually 300 times stronger than stainless steel.

Better Batteries

We ask a lot from our smartphones meaning the batteries tend to die quickly (usually at the worst possible moment). It’s a problem that researchers have grappled with for years and continue to do so, with the ultimate goal being to create super powerful batteries that charge up incredibly quickly and last longer through hundreds more charging cycles.

Contextual Intelligence

Smartphones are incredibly “smart” nowadays (obviously) but can they make decisions on your behalf? With something called “contextual intelligence” they may be able to. Essentially, sensors in the phone will collect data about your physical environment, conditions and surroundings, before using contextual intelligence technology to make decisions for you. Your phone will be able to answer questions, even before you’ve thought of them. For example, you head outside and there’s heavy cloud and a temperature of 5 degrees. Your phone senses this and reminds you that you’ll need a coat and umbrella today - long before the weather has even crossed your mind.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality incorporates your phone’s camera and sensors to add layers of useful digital information like photos, videos, sounds or text directly on top of the objects surrounding you. Imagine being in front of an unknown art gallery and pointing your smartphone towards it, then your phone showing details of each of the artworks inside long before you’ve stepped in the door. Or, you could even point it at a film poster to find the release date, showing times, cast and how to book tickets - the possibilities are literally endless.

Multi-Screen Capabilities

Why be limited by the screen size of your phone? With multi-screen capability you’ll be able to seamlessly connect and share what you see on your smartphone screen with your television, laptop or tablet regardless of the make, model, platform or OS.

Innovation is expensive though. Are there any financial incentives to help companies innovate in Ireland?

Absolutely. If your company engages in new technologies, research or innovation then it may well be eligible for Revenue-backed financial help towards the cost - regardless of industry or sector.

The biggest government incentive comes in the form of R&D Tax Credit, a popular and often very lucrative scheme that was launched in the early 2000s. Designed to encourage companies to innovate and grow (which in turn boosts the Irish economy), the credit is calculated at 25% of qualifying expenditure and is offset against a company’s Corporation Tax bill.

R&D Tax Credits are claimed via the Revenue Online Service (ROS). However, the application process is not straightforward, with a large amount of supplementary evidence required. This is why we strongly recommend using our services so we can guide you through your application to give you the very best chance of success.

Which companies are eligible for R&D tax relief?

Companies are most likely to be eligible for R&D Tax Credits if:

• They are based in Ireland and pay Corporation Tax to the Revenue
• They are not eligible for a reduced rate of tax in any other country
• They have carried out qualifying R&D work in Ireland or elsewhere in the European Economic Area (EEA)

What are qualifying R&D activities?

To be entitled to R&D Tax Credits, businesses must carry out research and development projects which adhere to the criteria below. The work must:

• Be in a scientific or technological field
• Be experimental
• Seek to make a specific scientific or technological advancement
• Involve investigative work
• Require basic or applied research
• Look to resolve a scientific or technological uncertainty (even if it ultimately fails in doing so)

How can Myriad Associates help?

Whatever innovative R&D projects your company has undertaken (or plans to undertake) Myriad Associates is best placed to offer you the highest quality R&D tax advice you need. We have years of experience working across Ireland and the UK and our team is made up of experts in all areas of R&D tax relief.

You can find out more on our website about R&D Tax Credits in Ireland or call us today for a tailor-made service to suit you on +353 1 566 2001. Alternatively please use our contact page.