There’s just over 2 weeks to go till the first Big Ideas Showcase which will take place in Croke Park on 13th October. Enterprise Ireland has selected over 20 technologies that have emerged from State funded research to present to an audience of over 150 potential investors at this one day event.
Attendance is by invitation only – click here for more information 

I was lucky enough to get invited to yesterday’s launch of Microsoft new Data Centre. More on RTE and Microsoft’s own site.

Here are the important points;

1. It’s Big.
2. It’s the first data centre that Microsoft have built outside of the US. Kudos to the Microsoft Ireland team and the IDA for their success in getting the data centre located here.
3. It’s a big deal for Ireland – maybe only 20 seconds on the RTE News, but that’s because stacks of servers don’t hit the ‘Human interest’ angle. This might be as important a decision as Intel coming to Ireland in the late 80’s.
4. Did I mention that it’s Big? 300,000 Sq feet. That’s a lot of football pitches.

Seriously lads; forget about having a server under your desk, or even your own server room down the hall. Leave it to the professionals. Data Centres and the cloud is the way software is going.

Jim Cuddy of Enterprise Ireland presents an Overview of the New Software Economy for Ireland and discusses this new Irish Strategy going forward. Jim talks about creating a network of contacts, a cluster or community of people and companies to partner together and create the value chain. Jim also talks about the massive growth in SaaS – Software as a Service and the roll-out of 10 new sample company product prototype case studies over the coming months. Also discussed is several new training initiatives in Internet Leadership Training for 25 companies and Marketing.

Really looking forward to Bizcamp tomorrow in the Guinness Storehouse Dublin. 5 Streams of 8 Sessions each = 40 Top speakers, not to mention the buzz of meeting 500 people in the business and technology areas. And it’s free (thanks to a word from the sponsors … )

Want to say a big thank you for the guys who did all the hard work in putting the camp together. Keith, Emily, Alan and Jason, do ye not have a business to run as well?!

Key people that I’m looking forward to hearing are the two EI guys (David is talking at 11.30 about Business plan mistakes and Gerard’s on at 15.30 about how your startup should approach EI for the first time). I’m also looking forward to seeing Ciara talk about personal productivity (10am), Ronan about Microsoft Bizspark (10.45), Justin talking about Service (14.45) and Steve talking about Software as a Service (16.15).

Talk to you there!

Enterprise Ireland is currently preparing to issue the 3rd annual survey of science & technology researchers in Higher Education Institutes.  Each HEI has been invited to support the survey so you should receive it in your email during the first two weeks of October. If you want to know more about the survey send an email to grace.labanyi@enterprise-ireland.com

The New Software Economy (NSE) is driven by the growth of the Internet and changes in the software value chain.  This term describes the Internet environment within which companies are operating.

The Internet is providing opportunities for new business models as seen in internet based start-ups and new delivery channels such as Software as a Service (rather than software through license). This shift is enabled by new technologies such as:

• Open Source
• Services Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Cloud Computing
• Semantic Web
• Web 2.0

It is characterised by demand for greater flexibility, global delivery and cost effective solutions.  In parallel, the global software value chain is becoming increasingly networked.  Partnerships and collaborations predominate.

Ireland’s software environment provides a uniquely supportive ecosystem within which individual firms can thrive as Best Connected©.  A number of unique features differentiate Ireland from its competitors.  These include:

• Our significant multinational sector comprising leading software global companies that have invested in an Irish base
• Substantial government investment in R&D in the 3rd level sector through Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and other agencies
• Specialist clusters
• Young, skilled workforce
• A well placed Diaspora with influential positions in industry and technology worldwide

Seminars on New Software Economy

Enterprise Ireland, in association with a local partner, will be hosting a series of seminars to outline the vision and toolkits for the New Software Economy in:

• Cork: Sept 8, 2009
• Galway: Sept 9, 2009
• Dublin: Sept 10, 2009

The panel of expert guests will include:

• Chris Hoffman, Mozilla Foundation
• Fergus Gloster, ex-VP of SalesForce.com
• Joe Drumgole, CEO of Putplace.com

Seminar enquiries

For enquiries regarding the NSE series of seminars, please contact:

Dan Barry, Senior Development Adviser, Enterprise Ireland Tel: +(353 21) 480 0255

General enquiries & suggestions

Enterprise Ireland has prepared a Strategy for development of the indigenous Irish software industry 2009-2013. A number of events, programmes and supports will be conducted over the next 18 months, many in cooperation with other agencies and representative bodies.

If you have ideas that you think Enterprise Ireland should consider to support the strategy, please feel free to fill out the details on the attached Ideas for Support form and email to Damien McCarney.

For general enquiries, and to be included on our NSE mailing list, contact:

Damien McCarney, Asst. Development Adviser, Enterprise Ireland  Tel. +(353 1) 727 2181