Leadership

International gathering in Dublin focuses on need for evidence-based policy-making across EUPictured: Kevin Bradley, president, Nickel Institute and Julie Girling MEP, chair of the informal European Parliamentary Working Group on Risk A total of 100 expert speakers and international delegates comprising policy-makers, regulators, governing bodies, industry and academia from the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, environmental and related sectors are gathering in Dublin today and tomorrow for a two-day European Risk Summit to examine the role of science in the formulation of legislation, regulation and directives. The European Risk Summit, hosted by the Irish Medicines Board, is seeking to help establish international principles as a way forward for science-based rule-making that will…

The special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), KPMG’s Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson, said today that they have received further instructions from Minister for Finance Michael Noonan regarding the valuing and subsequent sale of IBRC assets. “The objective of the special liquidation of IBRC is to maximise the proceeds that can be realised from the sale of IBRC’s assets in accordance with the IBRC Act 2013 and the ministerial instructions received under the Act,” said a spokesperson for the liquidators. “This process requires the special liquidators to arrange for the independent valuation of IBRC’s loan assets and to conduct an open and transparent sales process wherein assets will…

With almost a million apps now available worldwide, a new project has begun to measure the app economy in Europe and help guide stakeholders towards success. The ‘Eurapp’ project was launched by the European Commission, and is being run by the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (Deri) at NUI Galway in conjunction with technology industry analyst firm GigaOM Research. The project kicks off with a working workshop in Brussels on 14 June – ‘Shape the Future App Economy of Europe’ – featuring leaders from the app industry. Eurapp is part of the Startup Europe initiative of the European Commission’s Digital Agenda, which aims to help technology entrepreneurs start, maintain and grow…

University College Cork (UCC) said today that it has been has been ranked first among Irish universities for engineering (electrical and electronic) and environmental sciences in the 2013 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject. The university was placed second among Irish universities for engineering (chemical), biological sciences, medicine, pharmacy and pharmacology, and law. Overall, UCC is ranked among the world’s top 200 institutions for 10 of its subject areas. The university said its law, modern languages and biological sciences performed exceptionally well and are featured in the top 100 institutions worldwide for the first time, all improving upon their top 150 ranking in 2012. English language and literature…

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton has revealed the names of the 15 members of the reconfigured National Competitiveness Council (NCC), which he said “will be mandated to develop actions on competitiveness for implementation through the Action Plan structure”. The NCC, which had its first meeting with the Minister in Government Buildings today, has been reconfigured “to help drive the development and implementation of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs”. It will continue to be chaired by Dr Don Thornhill, who is joined by Martin Shanahan, chief executive, Forfás; Liam Casey, PCH; Prof Peter Clinch, VP innovation in UCD; Shay Cody, ICTU; Clare Dunne, DJEI; Isolde Goggin, chairperson,…

More than half (57pc) of recently qualified accountants would be willing to emigrate to secure their first job, according to a new survey from BDO Recruitment. And the chance to gain good experience with a reputable brand is the biggest incentive to joining a company with 84pc of respondents choosing this ahead of additional annual leave, receiving a bonus or getting a free laptop or tablet device. Sixteen percent of respondents said they wanted to remain in practice with 41pc wanting to move to industry and 43pc still undecided. “Qualified accountants are hungry to work and will follow the path that leads them to their next job,” said Chloe Liddy-Judge,…

According to IT multinational EMC, insurance premiums could get cheaper if big data analytics technology is used to create policies based on accurate marketplace insight. “Insurers are realising that by analysing huge amounts of information in real-time, they can more efficiently price policies and detect fraud,’ said Jason Ward, EMC’s director for Ireland, Scotland, and UK North. “This shift, fuelled by big data and high-performance analytics, enables insurers to select profitable business, implement precise pricing, manage risk, improve fraud detection, and drive revenues.” Big data analytics requires strong alignment between business and IT, creating powerful new capabilities that can transform the bottom line. “Big data analytics has applications in all…

More than half (56pc) of reinsurance companies in Ireland experienced growth in 2012, according to a members’ survey by the Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA). The survey of the 65 DIMA members also stated that more than one in two (51pc) of these companies expect significant growth in 2013. According to the companies surveyed, factors for the sizeable growth in the reinsurance sector include market access in new countries, increased new business opportunities and internal growth plans. “International reinsurers in Ireland have continued to provide ongoing stability to their policy-holders for almost 25 years, most recently against a background of events such as Superstorm Sandy, the Costa Concordia…

Fujitsu has announced the first output from its pioneering research collaboration with NUI Galway’s Digital Enterprise Research Institute (Deri), which could provide the key to unlocking billions of items of open data and enable integrated uniform access to academic, government and industry data throughout the web. In a world first, the Fujitsu-Deri research team has developed a single access point that enables linked open data (LOD) – which currently exists on different sites and in different formats – to be stored and sorted up to 10 times faster than was previously possible. The key innovation of the new technology is the ability to easily find and use publically available datasets…

Alexandra College in Milltown in Dublin today hosted a live virtual visit to the world-famous Cern Laboratory in Geneva for over 600 primary and secondary school students. The science event, which is the first of its kind for students in Ireland, included a demonstration by astrophysicist Dr Sofoklis Sotiriu and a live virtual tour of the Cern Laboratory, and Atlas experiment located in Cern. “We are thrilled to host this interactive science event in Alexandra College today and share this unique learning opportunity with other Dublin schools, in particular our local national schools,” said Alexandra College principal Barbara Ennis. “Alexandra has been pioneering science education and innovation since its foundation…