Leadership

Ron Halversen – The Web Development Consultant Your Business Needs To Get To The Next Level – Clarity Ventures, Inc. Self-appointed leaders in the tech space are a dime a dozen.

SFI launches strategy plan, gives details of €30m funding in research infrastructure Pictured: Minister Richard Bruton , Prof Mark Ferguson and Minister Sean Sherlock A new eight-year Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) plan was launched today, along with details of a €30m investment in research infrastructure by the Government agency. As part of the ‘Agenda 2020’ strategy, SFI said it aims to become “the world’s best science funding agency in the world at creating impact from excellent research and demonstrating clear value for money invested by 2020”. Other targets include attracting a top-tier international prize-winning scientist to lead an SFI-funded team in Ireland by 2015 and having an SFI researcher/team to win a major…

European Insurance Forum 2013 to be held in Dublin in May Matthew Elderfield, deputy governor of the Financial Regulator, is to be a speaker at EIF 2013 The European Insurance Forum (EIF) 2013 is taking place in Dublin on 9 and 10 May, bringing together the industry and regulatory community to address major issues facing the sector. The Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA) is holding the conference, which is themed ‘Face the Future’. International re/insurers in Ireland have continued to provide on-going stability to their policyholders for almost 25 years, most recently against a background of events such as Superstorm Sandy, the Costa Concordia sinking and devastating US…

Increase in cloud implementation across organisations in Ireland – Microsoft/Amárach Cloud Index Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD today joined Microsoft as part of National Cloud Week to launch the findings of the second annual Microsoft/Amárach Cloud Index. The index focuses on tracking the adoption of cloud computing amongst organisations in both the public and private sector in Ireland. The second Microsoft/Amárach Cloud Index stands at 3.6 out of 10, up from 3.2 last year, which suggests a steady increase in cloud implementation across organisations in Ireland. Particularly pronounced is the increase in the average score among organisations with between five and 50 employees, which has moved…

Independent News & Media (INM) has appointed Claire Grady as editor of the Irish Independent and Ian Mallon as head of news across its three main print titles – the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and the Herald, and of digital. Both executives will report to INM editor-in-chief Stephen Rae , who is reshaping the newsroom to deepen its relationship with readers in print and online. He said the appointments were part of the strategy to build a “digital-first, seven-day newsroom”. Grady is the first woman editor of the Irish Independent and previously served as a news editor of the Irish Independent before becoming opinion editor, executive editor and then editor on the…

Sixteen books have made it to the longlist for the 2012 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award from 262 entries. This is the eighth year of the award, which “aims to recognise the business book that provides the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues”. The Financial Times described the longlist as a “reading list to reflect loss of faith in capitalism”, with the state of the US economic model dominating. The shortlist will be chosen at a judging session in September and the winner, who will receive £30,000, will be announced at an award dinner in New York on 1 November. The…

Almost 70pc of jobseekers view emigration as a positive step – survey A new survey commissioned by Jobs Expo 2013 has found that almost 70pc of active jobseekers view emigration as a positive step. The survey also found that over half of respondents believe the Government’s JobBridge scheme to be ineffective and a further 67pc have no confidence in the Government’s current job creation strategies. Jobs Expo 2013 is taking place in Croke Park in Dublin on Saturday, 16 and Sunday, 17 February. “The fact that the majority of jobseekers surveyed view emigration as a positive rather than a negative is indicative of the changing perception of emigration,” said Beth Rees,…

Ian Talbot, chief executive of Chambers Ireland The waiting period before the budget announcement is impeding both business and consumer sentiment, says Chambers Ireland , as it calls for immediate access to personal income tax changes. Chambers Ireland , which represents 13,000 Irish businesses, said today that if significant changes are to apply to levies and other taxes, then businesses should be informed now. Chief executive Ian Talbot said it is unreasonable to expect employers to wait until December 7 to assess and plan for revised payroll processes. “They need adequate time to test and implement payroll software solutions for these changes in a timely and cost effective manner,” he said. Commenting on the imminent Budget,…

A team of students from Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Blarney, Co Cork have won the 2015 Esero Ireland – CEIA National CanSat competition and will go on to represent Ireland at the European CanSat final in Portugal in June of this year. Eight teams from schools across Ireland took part in this space project to create a CanSat – a simulation of a real satellite which fits into the volume of a soft drinks can. At the final in Birr, Co Offaly, teams launched their CanSats using a quadcopter and a rocket (built by the Irish Rocketry Society), which after release at high altitudes, returned to earth safely using…

Paul Reid has been appointed as managing director of Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, which is responsible for commercialising medicines in the field of inflammation, oncology, vaccines, hemophilia, pain, and infective diseases. Reid has over 18 years of pharmaceutical experience, 12 of these at Pfizer Inc., where he has held several different roles in sales and marketing, including sales director/head of learning and development and marketing director. Before joining Pfizer, he worked with Aventis Pharma, Nutricia Ireland, and Rowa Pharmaceuticals. He has a bachelor of science (management) from Trinity College Dublin and a marketing degree from Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). The pharmaceutical industry is facing a number of challenges and we…