Twenty high end jobs for designers will be created in Dublin this year for IBM's new design centre, IBM Studios - Dublin, launched at its Damastown campus on Wednesday.

The design centre, one of over 20 globally, will bring bring together designers, software developers and product managers to create software, services and digital products in line with focused design principles.

“We have five flagship studios on the product side now: Austin (Texas), New York, Hursley (UK), Shanghai, and Dublin,” said Phil GIlbert, general manager, IBM Design. “And we’re hiring.”

The Irish Studio is part of a major drive in IBM to place design to the forefront. IBM is emphasising visual design, design research, user experience design and design development in both the mobile and industrial design areas.

Mr Gilbert said the company will be hiring hundreds of designers internationally to fill these new roles.

The Irish centre will collaboratively create software for Big Data, cloud, mobile, social and cognitive computing solutions. Designers will apply the principles of IBM’s new rapid-prototyping approach to design, which the company calls IBM Design Thinking.

Mr Gilbert, who helped develop the approach for IBM, said that people’s expectations of the technology they use in the enterprise have changed because of the focus on design in consumer and business products and apps.

IBM already has 20 designers based in Dublin. Mr Gilbert said the company would not only double the number of designers here this year, but would continue to expand in the future.

The new centre is a creative space with movable walls and ceiling-high whiteboards, which can be easily reconfigured in minutes, depending on the needs of the people using it.

After launching the Studio, Mr Gilbert will be visiting Irish design schools and universities this week.

IBM Studios - Dublin will join other specialised groups at the Irish campus, including IBM Research and Development Labs, Watson Solutions, and IBM’s European Digital Sales Centre.