Enterprise Ireland – Best Connected -

Published September 1st, 2010 by Keith Bohanna

This a guest post by Keith Bohanna co-founder of dbtwang.  Keith participated in the first iGap Programme.

If you haven’t heard of iGAP, now is the time to acquaint yourself! Internet Growth Acceleration Programme is a management training and so-called ‘incubation’ strategy that is specifically designed to assist high potential internet companies in the early stages of their business, and to enable them to position themselves tactically in the marketplace. You might ask yourself what makes iGap so different from all the others out there? The answer is that iGAP, which is a multi-module programme running over six months, hones in on the precise needs of internet businesses, thereby ramping up their chances of success.

Here are a few questions for you, just in case you’re not sure of the where, how and why features of iGAP. In 2009, the business-led initiative Internet Growth Alliance aligned itself with Enterprise Ireland to develop iGAP, the debut run of which (from October 2009-April 2010) was vastly oversubscribed. The fundamental topics covered in the six monthly modules include how to accelerate strategic growth in business, marketing and sales; the great aspect about it is that through effective workshops, quality facilitators and implementation coaches, marketplace positioning, confidence and credibility is ingrained into the participants.

The feedback from the inaugural module run has been impressive, to say the least, to the point that iGAP2 is ready and raring to go, with the anticipation that there will be a high demand for limited places. Enterprise Ireland is now accepting applications for iGAP 2 – any interested online businesses can apply via the website at http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/igap, but only up to 6th September. The programme will commence in October 2010.

Published August 30th, 2010 by Sean Mulvany

Patient perceptions of long term illness are changing. Where previously the diagnosis of a chronic condition might have been met with a certain resignation, patients have become more proactive and expectant of how their condition will be managed and their wellness maintained. Government perceptions of healthcare are changing also. There is a growing recognition that the burgeoning cost of providing quality care is likely to bankrupt nations if not controlled. For example, US healthcare spending is currently 17% of GDP and rising, with some 90% of spend on chronic illness.

One promising solution to both these aspects is, variously, known as Connected Health, telemedicine or e-health. In brief, CH involves the deployment of sensor and communication technologies to the individual, the home and other locations in order to earlier detect risk, onset or worsening of disease and thereby reduce the severity of that disease and reduce the burden of acute care in the hospital.  Currently, CH solutions are being rolled out for those chronic conditions with the largest catchment of patients and the highest burden of cost such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

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Published August 25th, 2010 by Brian Caulfield

This is a guest post from Brian Caulfield, the Programme Lead for the iGAP2 Programme. For more updates from Brian, you can find him at @BrianCVC on Twitter.

I have spent the last eight years as a venture capital and angel investor in technology companies.  Prior to that, I was a technology entrepreneur for ten years.  In those 18 years working in and with start-up companies I have become convinced that many entrepreneurs fail simply because they don’t have a clear vision of what their business really is…who their customers are; what their proposition for those customers is; how they are going to reach those customers; how they will make money from those customers.  In a nutshell, they don’t have a clear strategy.

Getting to that clarity is essential for every business.  That clarity enables you to prioritise tasks amidst the chaos of a start-up. It enables you to focus the team on what’s important. It enables you to articulate a clear and, hopefully, compelling investment opportunity to potential funders of the business.

iGAP is a programme that is designed specifically to help early-stage internet companies to develop that clarity and to give them tools to help them to execute on the strategy they have defined.  Many such management training and incubation programmes exist but iGAP is different because it focuses specifically on the needs of internet businesses.  Over a period of seven months, six modules led by international lean start-up and customer development experts such as Sean Ellis and Oren Michels address issues such as monetisation strategies, internet customer acquisition, business development using APIs, etc.

The need for a programme like iGAP was first recognised by the members of the Internet Growth Alliance (IGA), led by Colm Lyon of Realex Payments.  The expertise of our international facilitators is supplemented by input from Colm, Irish success stories such as Ray Nolan of HostelWorld, Breon Corcoran of PaddyPower and others too numerous to mention here.

Finally, as Programme Lead my role is to bring those diverse inputs together into a cohesive programme that will take participants on a journey that will greatly increase their chances of success.  I believe the programme is a great opportunity for emerging internet businesses but don’t take my word for it, ask participants on iGAP 1 what they thought.

Enterprise Ireland are now accepting applications for iGAP 2 – any interested online businesses can apply via the website at www.enterprise-ireland.com/igap. The programme will commence in October 2010.

Published August 20th, 2010 by Laura Czajkowski

The fourth OSSBarcamp is coming up on the 25 and 26th September and is being held at the University College Dublin. A bi-annual event to promote Open Source, OSSBarcamp is held in an UnConference style with a broad range of talks and events covering the open source technology landscape.

This year though it’s turned into a two-day event, showing the increase in popularity for this type of event in Open Source. It’s great to see these events being promoted and sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, as it encouraging to see Open Source becoming more main stream.

Organised by Laura Czajkowski and a team of enthusiastic volunteers, this event has provided an excellent platform for the Open Source community to meet, share ideas and collaborate on projects. With attendance of 150 people at each of the previous OSSBarcamps, this is a boutique (un)conference that allows professionals and interested amateurs alike to learn more about, and contribute to the growing popularity of Open Source technology.

Being an unconference, the aim is to allow participants to set the agenda of the day. A timetable will be published on the OSSBarcamp website and attendees are encouraged to enter their own topics that they will talk about. Topics vary at the barcamp which is the great thing about them, they cater for all levels and cover a multitude of topics on distributions of choice, which programming language you find best, what has been developed in the open source world recently. This year, OSSBarcamp will be hosting sessions, lightning talks and Birds of a Feather Sessions as well as a programming competition showcasing the “many ways to skin a cat”! More info below…

Talks:

Ranging from in-depth technical tutorials to project updates right on to introductory aspects of Open Source, the broad elements of the Open Source Community will be on display. As well as the usual 45 minute talks, the afternoon will see a series of lightning talks which are brief 15 minute introductions/tutorials designed to give people a taste of a particular project. Often these talks generate questions which can be discussed in more detail at the all important afters drinks!

A new addition to OSSBarcamp is the live show recording from the Ubuntu UK Podcast team, who are coming over to take part in the weekend. There will be round table discussions amongst individuals who work together on specific projects. These hour long sessions allow people who normally communicate online to meet and to discuss a topic pertinent to the project they are involved with. Often these sessions will be “State of the Nation” discussions or will tackle a particular issue relating to the project in open source.

Events:

Programming Competition – To showcase the “many ways to skin a cat” that exist in technology, OSSBarcamp is holding a programming competition where participants will be set a challenge to build a particular application. The participants will all possess their own programming skillsets such as php, ruby, python, perl etc and will be asked to complete the challenge during the day. Marks will then be awarded for speed development, quality and usability.

Running from 10:00 to 17:00 on both days, OSSBarcamp has a tradition like most open source events of running an after party for participants to digest the days activities and discuss the topics raised, all lubricated by a few beverages and grub. This year the party will be held in the Lansdowne Hotel bar from 6:30pm onwards. Come in and join us, chat and catch up on the days events or making plans for the Sunday fun.

For more information about OSS Bar Camp see the website and also sign up on our registration site or email Laura Czajkowski.

Published August 19th, 2010 by Donnchadh Cullinan

One of the key challenges for Development Advisors (DA’s – akin to Account Managers) in Enterprise Ireland is to convey to EI clients that we have an interest in, and a good understanding of their particular business sector or target market. A very quick way to help achieve this might by using some of the lesser-known features of LinkedIn.

We all have LinkedIn networks – but a lot of people still don’t get it and see it solely as a means for making connections (or adding ‘friends’ – a grown-ups Facebook). There are still relatively few people that really use it to it to add value to their client engagement.

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Published August 13th, 2010 by David Scanlon

It seems like there’s a ‘must-attend’ event on in the web/tech space every second day at the moment. The autumn schedule is rapidly filling up events, with everything from blockbuster headline acts  such as The 2010 Cloud Computing Summit, to the ultra-niche Ruby Ireland Meetups. It can be difficult to keep track of and schedule all of the various events, which is why I was excited to see a bit of a crowd-sourcing effort to make our lives a bit easier in this regard.

Instigated by Stewart Curry (Design Director at X Communications), the Web Events in Ireland Google Calendar is a list of upcoming conferences, workshops and seminars focussed on the web development and design space.

Stewart has kindly added me as an admin on the calendar, so if there’s an upcoming event in this space that you’d like to add please let get in touch.

Published August 12th, 2010 by Paul Browne

Published August 12th, 2010 by Shikha Mohanty

Here’s something that might interest you. 9dot9 is an Indian niche media management company that runs activities for Indian CTOs on a membership and invitation basis. Each year, the CTO Forum conference is organised in a different country, and this year – thanks mostly to EI Delhi – it takes place in Dublin’s on August 15-17.

The co-sponsors include EI, IDA and Tourism Ireland, and we’re hoping to take advantage of the presence of an impressive Indian CIO cluster (over 100), by which we can make connections and introductions across various conferences. The good thing here is that there is nothing formal organised – it’s really little more than the Indian CTO casually networking with you as a basis for future contact.

While most of the meeting slots are full, would any other EI clients be interested in participating in this? Via your DA, let me know of your interest and previous actions/success in the Indian market,  and I will then aim to get the Indian CTOs to agree to meet. The days best for such convivial meetings would have to be August 16th and 17th, and if I’m contacted in plenty of time, I can confirm up to four days before the start of the conference. It could be a good opportunity to grab a hold of, as well as a way of meeting new people, so why not?

Published August 10th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

You may have been reading recently that the contract for helicopter Search and Rescue services was recently signed by the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey for a value of up to €500m over the period 2012-2022.

The bid manager behind that success,  named Denis Thornton was entrusted by CHC to manage a contract bid that involved an incredibly complex set of requirements to deliver a successful bid. 

Utilising his procuring experience as a former UK Ministry of Defense Procurement official, technical knowledge of procurement requirements and experience managing one of the largest contracts signed this year Denis has developed a bid development methodologies and a software system known as the Evince system©.

He is now passing along some of this knowledge for free! He has created a series of 20 short videos and an eBook offering concise pointers and advice on public procurement in topics such as the following;
(1) Risk Management Plan development.
(2) General Do’s and Dont’s.
(3) Executive Summary Development Advice.
To access this information plus a free interactive webinar on the topic of the ‘5 Most Dangerous Trends Facing Irish Companies In The Public Procurement Market Today’ just follow the link below and go through the free sign up process.

Click Here

We are always keen to hear feedback on the services and ideas we highlight through best connected. Please spare a moment to reply to this post when you have had a quick look at the site and let us know what your impressions are.

Published August 9th, 2010 by Barry Murphy

Now that the final of MasterChef is over and any hope of the Wallabies winning the Tri-Nations has dissipated, Australians are starting to focus on the upcoming Federal Election, scheduled for August 21^st 2010. The election cycle is short, with a new Government elected every three years and currently the two leading parties, Labor and the Liberal-led coalition, are running neck and neck in the polls.

This is a very important election from an ICT perspective, with the key issue being the future of Australia’s broadband network, upon which the hopes and aspirations of many local and international vendors rely. Irish vendors should take note of the opportunities resulting from this project – the current Federal Government has committed A$43BN to the project, the largest ICT infrastructure project spend in Australian history.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is a Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network which will bring speeds of up to 100Mbps to 93% of Australian homes and businesses. The project was formally announced in April 2009 by the current Federal Government and is to be built by NBNCo, an organisation set up by the Government itself, as none of the bids by private enterprise were deemed acceptable.

The project has begun to be rolled out in Tasmania and is scheduled to take roughly eight years to complete. The Liberal opposition has argued that the NBN will be too expensive, is currently under-budgeted and has promised to scrap the NBN if elected but has not clearly outlined an alternative plan for infrastructure as of yet.

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Published August 3rd, 2010 by Emer O'Byrne

The global financial crisis and the slow road to recovery have challenged Irish executives to re-think their core business strategy. Cost cutting initiatives can only do so much. The next step is to direct resources strategically in order to achieve business growth and prosperity.

Who better to talk you through it than Robert Kaplan, inventor of the Balanced Scorecard and Activity Based Costing and the world’s leading expert on cost and performance management?

StaffBalance, in association with Bord Gais,  invites Professor Robert Kaplan to Dublin on 19^th October 2010. Professor Kaplan is the inventor of the Balanced Business Scorecard and Time-Driven Activity Based Costing, to address Senior Executives in Ireland. Professor Kaplan will share his methods, insights and case studies on the subject of rebuilding a business in a post-recession environment.

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Published July 30th, 2010 by Paul Browne

On Wednesday, the IIEA (The Insititute of International and European Affairs) hosted a key event in Dublin about the ongoing implications of Policy for the Cloud. Speaking were Peter Fleischer of Google  (Link to Blog) and Billy Hawkins, Data Protection Commissioner.

Click Video to play. Copyright and original video from the IIEA.

What I found heartening was  the praise that Peter and Google had for Ireland, the commissioners depth of knowledge and positivity about security in the cloud, and the extent of the crossover (although with healthy differences) between the views of the commercial and governmental speakers. My notes on Peter’s talk are below – my most important point to takeaway being that the Cloud, done right, can actually enhance privacy and transparency for users, compared to the status quo.

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Published July 29th, 2010 by David Scanlon

Good news on the online marketing front in Ireland, with two new courses in this space announced in the past week. Dublin City University and the Digital Marketing Institute have both announced post-graduate courses in Digital Marketing, targeting marketing professional who are facing the challenges of operating in the always-on, hyper-connected world of communications.

Both courses offer advice and tips on the practical aspects of Digital Marketing, such as search engine optimisation and marketing, marketing for mobile devices and the social media channels, while also highlighting the importance of defining an encompassing marketing strategy for the digital space, to allow Irish companies make the most of the opportunities presented.  If utilised correctly, online channels can deliver a sustained marketing and sales presence in a cost-effective manner for Irish companies looking to export their goods and services overseas.

For more information on these courses, please see the links below.

• Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing, DCU Business School
• Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing Institute

Update

Just saw that the Irish Internet Association (IIA) have also launched a Diploma in Digital Marketing in conjunction with Irish Times Training. The IIA are currently seeking candidates for this FETAC accredited course, register online here.

Published July 26th, 2010 by Manus Rooney

Published July 23rd, 2010 by John Magill

Dogs welcome is a strange introduction to the opening, next weekend, of the UK’s first new high street bank in over 150 years.   The newcomer is Metro Bank.   It promises to open seven days a week, including 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, have a rapid account opening procedure and issue credit and debit cards within 15 minutes.   For those with jars full of pennies it will also have free coin counting with the Metro Bank Magic Money Machine.  And off course “the bank will provide free bowls of water and chewy bones to ensure that your four-legged pals are as happy as you are”!  The initial plans are modest.  Two branches this year and twelve within the next two years.

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Published July 22nd, 2010 by Eoin O'Siochru

I manage the Internet Marketing Unit in Enterprise Ireland.   The role of the unit is to assist Enterprise Ireland’s clients , especially SMEs, to make optimum use of the Internet in the interests of developing export sales.

eTailing – Opportunities for Irish SME’s

I firmly believe that online trading offers smaller companies operating in limited markets an opportunity to punch above their weight on the global stage. Irish companies have certainly embraced this relatively low-cost method of reaching international markets. E-commerce accounts for 26 percent of the total turnover of Irish companies, compared to 15 percent of the revenue of UK-based companies, according to a European Commission Eurostat survey published January 2010.

Want to know more? Follow this link

Published July 20th, 2010 by Roy Scannell

When most people think of the Green Agenda, factories billowing smoke into the atmosphere come to mind, however software too will soon come under Green scrutiny when looking considering Government contracts.

Trends
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Published July 14th, 2010 by John Magill

In the middle of our doom and gloom a bit of good news is always welcome.   Intel last night reported its best ever quarter results in its 42 year history.  Year-on-year revenue up 34% and a net income of €2.9bn.  Why is this good news for us?   Well, Paul Otellini, chief executive, said that Intel was running ahead of a global economic recovery because of a fundamental shift towards working on the internet.   Sales of server chip were up 170% on a year earlier due to a move to hosting applications and services in the cloud.   ”As internet traffic continues to boom, the cloud build-out is accelerating in order to keep pace,” he said.

So the move to the cloud continues unabated and confirms what many of Enterprise Ireland’s software clients believe – that SaaS and the cloud are here to stay.

We should also not forget the 4,000 people who work directly for Intel in Leixlip and the many hundreds of others whose jobs depend on Intel Ireland.   This is great news for them.

For those of us of a certain generation it is hard to imagine that the Leixlip plant was originally established to produce the i486 microprocessor.   A breakthrough in technology, it had a 50MHz chip set with 8k of on-chip SRAM!!!

Published July 14th, 2010 by Michael O'Brien

This is a guest post from Michael O’Brien – Head of Marketing at Celtrino, an Enterprise Ireland Client. Celtrino specialises in business process and supply chain document automation solutions.

Celtrino, our new company name, was launched in early June; I feel this event marks a milestone in the history and development of the company. Established in 1989 as the EDI Factory to automate business processes and document exchange, the company rebranded as Celerity in 2000 to position itself as a pioneer in the provision of internet technologies to further improve operational efficiency;

In 2009, we in the management team decided to look overseas to continue the growth of the company but market entry could have been compromised as the name Celerity was already registered in our key target geographies. We needed a new company name.

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Published July 12th, 2010 by Martin Corkery

www.Loc8Code.com , the new all-Ireland digital address code, providing precise address information was  launched today at the The Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin. This new digital address code system will be of immense benefit to all businesses and individuals who need to receive and deliver products and services on the island of Ireland. There is research to show that the system can also deliver considerable savings in transport costs, for those using the system, because of the precision of the address when used in conjunction with a satellite navigation device.

TV personality, adventurer and worldwide traveler Charley Boorman spoke at the launch today.

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