Microsoft is to invest a further €3m in its Dream Space education and innovation hub in Dublin.
The money will be spent over the next four years and will be used to support the learning of nearly 1,000,000 students and teachers here.
The Dream Space, which is located at the company's Irish headquarters in Leopardstown, was opened four years ago.
Since then it has worked with over 130,000 students, both in person and virtually.
"Through the additional Dream Space offering, our ambition is to provide every student on the island of Ireland, regardless of socio-demographics, with the opportunity to take part in an immersive Microsoft Dream Space STEM experience and create the next generation of digital leaders," said James O’Connor, Microsoft Ireland Site Leader and Vice President of Microsoft Business Operations International.
The aim of the Dream Space is to encourage and challenge students to be creative in areas such as computer science, AI, mixed reality and robotics.
Maynooth University has carried out research into the use of the Dream Space and found of the teachers who experienced it, 30% spent more time using technology in their daily teaching.
90% said it positively impacted their use of tech and the children they teach.
"Research we have undertaken at Maynooth University has found that there was a 42% increase in the likelihood of girls wanting to pursue STEM after their Dream Space experience," said Dr Katriona O'Sullivan, Lecturer of Digital Skills at Maynooth.
"Furthermore, girls from disadvantaged backgrounds who participated in the STEM programme not only said their confidence had increased by 80% as a result of participating in the programme but 30% said they were more likely to have STEM career aspirations."
The expansion will include new features such as a Dream Space Academy for primary and also for post-primary, as well as a digital academy.
The development has been welcomed by the Minister for Education, Norma Foley.
