Ones to Watch: iameco

In our Ones to Watch section, we highlight some of the top movers and shakers in Ireland. This week we feature iameco.

What is it?

iameco computers, the world’s first ecological PC range, is dedicated to high performance and sustainability over the entire PC life cycle.

The desktop model, the iameco v3.0, is now out of stock, but iameco has developed an upgraded model, the V4.0, which will retail at around €1,000.

The D4R Laptop is a more recent model, and was developed last year in prototype and is not yet ready for sale. The D4R has an optical drive. iameco is fine-tuning the prototype and arranging the manufacture and expect to have this finalised by end of 2018. The company is currently working on the design of a new model, an iameco D4R Tablet, that will have similar design characteristics to the V4 and the D4R. This should be manufactured and available also by end of 2018.

The housing materials iameco uses are mainly wood from renewable forests and reused wood, offcuts from the furniture industry. No tropical hardwood is used. The components are sourced from major component providers like AUO in Taiwan, who have public employment and conditions codes.

In terms of repairs and maintenance, iameco intends to establish local service agencies that will be franchise to repair and replace iameco PCs. The firm would expect to identify a service agent in different regions (including the US). There should be no need at that stage to send the PC back to Ireland for repair or upgrading. In terms of the upgrade of components, this can be carried out to, your specifications, by the local service agency.

Who’s behind it?

MicroPro (Multimedia Computer Systems) is a small company based in Rathfarnham, South Dublin that retails and repairs computers and peripherals. Since 1991, MicroPro has also been designing and manufacturing green computers.

How is it funded?

To date, MicroPro has used its own resources to fund its R&D endeavours, and has received support from a range of national and EU programmes. These include (nationally) the Environment Protection Agency’s environment tally Superior Products Programme, Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Partnership Programme and the EU’s LIFE Programme, the FP7 programme and more recently the Horizon 2020 programme. The intention when R&D is completed is to fund future production based on sales income in the future.

Future plans?

MicroPro is currently focusing on setting up local design and manufacturing facilities for all its models. This is because the main obstacle to marketing the iameco range to date has been the cost and inflexibility of commercial outsourcing. For this reason, it is working with a number of national and EU partners to develop local digital design and fabrication facilities, which should be in place by the end of 2018.