Ireland community investments

Microsoft believes everyone should have access to the skills, technology, and opportunity they need to succeed in a changing economy.

Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board provides a wide range of education and training programmes, services, and supports to children, young people, and adults across the County Dublin and Dún Laoghaire region.

• Datacenter Academy (DCA) Program & Student Support enables student resources (certification, Datacenter Dynamics e-learning and testing resources) and student scholarship funding to support students who are from underserved communities. The grant will ensure these students have resources to get to DCA and support their learning.

Generation You Employed transforms education to employment systems to prepare, place, and support people into life-changing careers that would otherwise be inaccessible.

• Digital Skilling Bootcamps provide 11-week Data Analytics (DA) and 9-week IT support and cybersecurity skills (ITS) bootcamps for job seekers and those seeking reskilling. The cohorts target a wide profile of underrepresented, underserved, and under- or unemployed learners. The project also supports Microsoft Ireland’s Skill Up Ireland Program for AI and digital skilling programs to job seekers and mature professionals across Ireland.

Maynooth University Foundation supports Maynooth University in advancing its vision to be a University of Excellence, Opportunity, and Impact through leading and growing fundraising activities.

• The Maynooth Foundation Dream Space Teacher Fellowship delivers an expanded teacher fellowship program to support STEM and datacenter skills training. The project delivers a module for pre-service teachers to use the 21^st-century learning by design methodology in their teaching and finds placements for the teachers in schools across Leinster to deliver three newly developed digital lessons.
• All Ireland STEM Passport for Inclusion supports young women in Dublin (and Ireland) to university STEM programs through an accredited program providing points towards university admission and transferable ECTS credits. Since 2021, over 5, 000 girls have benefitted from the internship.

South Dublin County Partnership works with partner organizations to tackle poverty and social exclusion, focusing on the most vulnerable groups. It creates neutral spaces and opportunities for parties to work together on solutions; initiates, develops, and delivers projects; enables and empowers communities; and influences policy and decision making.

• Let’s Get Digital and StepIn2Tech Community Digital Skills programs aim to increase digital health and participation of individuals from disadvantaged areas in sustainable future employment in the tech sector. Both provide learners with extra supports required to guide them through digital role-based pathways. The programs also set up a tech space with a digital drop-in service in the Rowlagh Community Centre, included digital themed jobs in the SDCP e-zine which compiles all job opportunities available in South Dublin, and set up the Let’s Get Digital website to raise program awareness and to facilitate online bookings.

TU Dublin Foundation makes a transformational contribution to TU Dublin so that it will be recognized nationally and internationally as the first choice in Ireland for students seeking professional, career-focused learning and discovery in a vibrant environment renowned for innovation, creativity, the application of research, and engagement with the community.

• TUD Learn and Work DCA Program supports the Dublin and Ireland ICT sector with network, ICT, and datacenter technicians. The Learn and Work program provides students with various support services and learning resources, including certifications. The School of Informatics and Cyber Security provides various support services to students, engagement with local schools and community, and employment placement services, ensuring students receive a world-class learning experience.

Climate change requires swift, collective action and technological innovation. We are committed to meeting our own goals while helping communities do the same.

ChangeX International helps to create thriving communities everywhere by democratizing change, ensuring proven innovations and finance are accessible to everyone, everywhere. ChangeX is a community engagement platform that, with Microsoft’s support, has funded more than 500 groups in communities across Europe and the United States since 2015.

• Forests for Schools is a pool of funds for schools across Microsoft’s Dublin datacenter community to apply for an educational forest installation on their campus. Pocket Forests and Stepping Stone Forests will complete the installations, with ChangeX as coordinator and fund manager. This builds off a tree planting at the Microsoft datacenter, where students from Coláiste Bríde joined datacenter employees and planted trees. .

One Tree Planted wants to make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. Together we can restore forests, create habitat for biodiversity, and make a positive social impact around the world.

• Clondakin Community Tree Planting Initiative is a tree cover project for Clondalkin by Trees on the Land in collaboration with Áras Chrónáin—The Irish Cultural Centre, with the support of Microsoft and One Tree Planted. Different community planting projects planted approximately 8,000 trees. The project improved the local environment for climate change adaptation and provided ecological enhancement for urban wildlife through a network of tree cover. By creating positive, inclusive tree cover projects and spaces, it improved the health and wellbeing for the people of Clondalkin.

The Green Economy Foundation is an environmental non-government organization that promotes the development of a green economy. Its three departments—Education, Policy, and Projects—work together to research, demonstrate, and encourage sustainable practice for a cleaner, more efficient, and equitable economy for all.

• Clondalkin and South Dublin Tree Planting, in partnership with local partner Trees on the Land, planted around 8,000 trees in the Dublin DC Community area of Clondalkin and across the south/west of Dublin County. The project involved several community partners and planting locations, building on previous years’ planting 8,250 trees in the same area.