Advancing Digitalisation in the Midlands
CEO Ruth Kearney to speak at Advanced Technologies Industries & Manufacturing (ATIM) cluster workshop on 31 March. The event aims to support Irish SMEs manufacturers in the midland region.
Minister Robert Troy will open the event and talk about how the government is committed to supporting advanced manufacturing in the region. Enterprise Ireland will be present on key funding initiatives including the Digitalisation Voucher as a means of accelerating digital.
Industry use cases will come from The Shabra Group and Midland Steel Reinforcement Supplies with Ruth Kearney, CEO of Nightingale HQ sharing insights into partnering with both on their EI Digital Review. The Irish Manufacturing Research will share the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) and learnings IMR has gained from supporting companies engage in this globally recognised framework.
FAQs
Why does the Midlands manufacturing sector matter?
The Irish Midlands has a significant manufacturing base — engineering, food processing, plastics, and metal fabrication are all represented, and many of these businesses are at an early stage of digital adoption. The ATIM cluster workshop was specifically designed to address this gap: giving SME manufacturers practical, funded pathways to digitise their operations.
Ruth Kearney’s presentation at the event drew on Nightingale HQ’s direct experience working with Irish manufacturers — including the partnership with Midland Steel Reinforcement Supplies, which is one of the concrete examples of how the Enterprise Ireland Digital Review process plays out for a manufacturing business. The Shabra Group’s participation as another use case rounded out the picture for attendees who wanted to understand what digitisation looks like in practice, not just in theory.
What is the Digitalisation Voucher?
Enterprise Ireland’s Digitalisation Voucher is one of the practical funding mechanisms that makes the path to digitisation accessible for SMEs. Providing up to €9,000 for approved digital projects, it lowers the financial risk of engaging with digital transformation for businesses that may not have large IT budgets.
Events like the ATIM workshop help manufacturers understand what the voucher covers, which suppliers and solutions qualify, and how to structure a project that delivers real business value rather than just a technology implementation. For Nightingale HQ, participation in these events is part of a broader commitment to making AI adoption practical and funded for Irish manufacturers.
What is ATIM?
Stop Working So Hard
Manual processes are killing your profit. Stop doing things the hard way. Get the tools you need to run a modern shop.