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The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD today (Monday) announced that OpenJaw Technologies is to create 45 new jobs over the next two years.  In addition, OpenJaw Technologies announced that it will make a €3.3m investment into the company’s Research and Development program.  The Government will contribute to this investment through Enterprise Ireland.  OpenJaw delivers online retail technology and services to the global travel industry.

Minister Bruton made the announcement when he visited the firm’s headquarters in Glasnevin (Dublin) today.  The new high-value jobs will be created predominantly in the Sales, Engineering, Development and Product Management functions, and will be located across its Dublin operation and its regional office in Galway.  This will bring the total number of people employed by the company in Ireland to 151 by 2013 and its global head-count to 169 over the same period.

OpenJaw enables travel companies such as airlines, on line travel agencies (OTAs), hotel chains and loyalty programmes to offer their products and services in the Internet domain.  Its customer portfolio features in excess of 40 customers, including British Airways, Airmiles, SAS and other large global travel players.

Making the announcement, Minister Bruton said:

“If we are to get out of this crisis and create the levels of employment we need, we must create an indigenous engine of economic growth. Indigenous companies provide proportionately three times more benefit to the Irish economy than multinational companies, and while FDI will remain a crucial part of our economic strategy, I am determined to support high growth indigenous companies in every way possible.

“OpenJaw is an exciting Irish technology company which is innovating, exporting and creating jobs, and today’s announcement is very welcome. Through my Department’s capital budget and the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs I will provide greater support to businesses like this so that more dynamic Irish companies can start up, grow, and get our country back to work”.

CEO of OpenJaw Technologies Kieron Branagan said:

“Our growth strategy is aimed clearly on greater penetration of the global travel market. The R&D investment programme on which we are embarking will enable us to advance the development of our technology offering and continue to serve the business needs of Airline, Hotel Groups, OTAs and Loyalty Programmes. We see tremendous opportunities for on-going growth in the sector and look forward to continuing to drive the future of the industry.”

Welcoming the announcement Greg Treston, Head of Scaling at Enterprise Ireland, said: ‘OpenJaw Technologies is a strong Irish company with a proven track record internationally for innovation and service excellence.  With this ambitious R&D programme it is clear that they are committed to building on this track record and driving continued growth.  Enterprise Ireland is delighted to support the company and to continuing to work with them as they implement their strategy for international expansion’.

ENDS

Amanda Campbell, Marketing Manager, OpenJaw Technologies Tel: +353 1 882 5444, Email:

Ciara Concannon, Press Officer, Enterprise Ireland  +353 87 2043435

Note to Editor:

OpenJaw Technologies is a global leader in delivering online retail technology and services to the travel industry.  OpenJaw enables Airlines, Hotels, Online (OTAs) and Retail Travel Agencies, and Loyalty Programs to easily market, promote and sell their products online – in ways that enhance the brand experience.

The xDistributor Platform powers all OpenJaw’s solutions, delivering unrivalled levels of business control, supplier connectivity and flexibility.  xDistributor enables dynamic packaging, business rules management, ancillary selling, redemption booking, intelligent promotions, call centre sales and servicing, content and contract management, customer profiling and reporting.  OpenJaw’s solutions unlock benefits such as market differentiation, increased profitability and greater customer engagement.

Some of the world’s leading travel companies number among OpenJaw’s customers, including: British Airways, Etihad, KLM, Air Miles, Hyatt, Aeroplan and SAS.  Headquartered in Dublin Ireland, OpenJaw has regional offices in Galway, Madrid, Frankfurt and Dallas – in addition to representation in Moscow.  OpenJaw Technologies is a member and active participant of the Open Travel™ Alliance, CASMA, TTI and HTNG.