Plans have been announced to hold Ireland's fourth Regional Start-up Summit in Athlone at the end of March.
The event will be hosted by Scale Ireland, an independent, not-for-profit representative organisation for Irish tech start-ups and scaling companies.
The summit will focus on the potential and the challenges facing start-ups and scaling companies around the country.
There are currently more than 2,000 indigenous tech start-up and scaling companies, employing more than 45,000 people in Ireland.
Ahead of the summit, Scale Ireland has launched its fourth "State of Start-ups Survey" to get the views of founders and CEOs on the key issues affecting them and the overall state of the sector.
These include the availability of capital, potential of AI, staffing and skill needs as well as regulatory issues.
The survey results will be published to coincide with the regional summit.
"Our fourth Regional Start-up Summit is very timely with the formation of a new Government," said CEO of Scale Ireland, Martina Fitzgerald.
"Given the significant global changes taking place, the new government needs to ensure that regional innovation and entrepreneurship are prioritised," Ms Fitzgerald said.
The summit is supported by Google, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), Enterprise Ireland, Bord na Móna, Atlantic Bridge, Research Ireland and Technological University of the Shannon.
"The Regional Start-up Summit is an important event to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing this sector in Ireland," said Vanessa Hartley, Head of Google Ireland.
"We know that Artificial Intelligence has the potential to drive transformative economic growth, with generative AI alone projected to contribute up to €45 billion to Ireland's GDP over the next decade," Ms Hartley said.
