150 jobs are set to be created on UCD’s campus by SAS, a business analytics company. The positions are set to be established in its new Sales and Customer Contact Centre, which is located in Clonskeagh. It is estimated the investment will cost around €40 million, and will take place over a three year period, up to 2018.
Founded in 1976, SAS has nearly 14,000 employees worldwide, and generated revenues of $3.09 billion in 2014. It currently employs around 30 people at its office in NexusUCD. The jobs on offer will include roles for multi-lingual business development and sales specialists, customer engagement specialists, data scientists and software engineers.
SAS worked with the Industrial Development Agency Ireland (IDA) to bring about the investment. It also has links with UCD’s Centre for Business Analytics and NovaUCD, which have been credited for bringing forth the timeline of the project.
Business analytics is a growing area in the Irish economy. Its operation centres on utilising data-analytics to make evidence-based business decisions, rather than relying on business instincts. Areas where it can improve business decision making include operational efficiency, understanding customers, identifying new opportunities or managing risk. The Centre will support sales of data analytics software to businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Speaking at a launch event by the company, Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, said that SAS’s decision invest in Dublin was “great news for the city.” Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, said that the announcement was evidence that UCD is “continuing its evolution as an enterprise campus, with enhanced opportunities for leading businesses such as SAS.”
Located beside the main UCD campus, NexusUCD is known as the Industry Partnership Centre. It provides office space for companies that wish to work with UCD’s academics and researchers on projects. Feely stated that by locating its new Sales and Customer Contact Centre at NexusUCD, “SAS can continue to grow its engagement with the University and in particular with the UCD Centre for Business Analytics. Through this engagement SAS can access the rich research and innovation capacity of UCD, along with the largest population of talented students in Ireland.”
Words by Cian Carton, News Editor
