This is a guest post from Mark Rodgers, CEO at Cipherion. Like many of us in Enterprise Ireland, Mark is totally passionate about regaining Ireland’s once enviable position as a nation of multilingual businesspeople:
At a reception in the Japanese Embassy in Dublin last week, there was an interesting discussion about one topic that’s hot with Japanese CEOs, i.e. the need for Japanese exporters to adopt a “China plus One” export strategy.
The current concern among Japanese CEOs is that should something happen to the Chinese economy then Japanese exporters could be left with little alternatives within Asia. Currently exports from Japan to China are doing well. However, a more balanced approach to exporting can mitigate against market risk. Japanese organisations are now focused on targeting multiple Asian markets: i.e. adopting a “China plus One” strategy meaning, for instance, “China plus Vietnam” or “China plus Malaysia”.
At Cipherion we believe that this concept could be used to Ireland’s benefit, albeit slightly modified, to encourage Irish CEOs and exporters to be more adventurous and more ambitious in their business development efforts.
By adopting an “English plus One” export strategy, Irish organisations would focus on, for example, exporting in “English plus French” or “English plus German”. So as well as targeting our traditional English-speaking UK or US markets, Irish exporters should be encouraged to take the leap and target another non-English speaking market – for example, the large French, German, Spanish or Italian markets where there are over 250 million consumers.
What’s the real challenge for Irish exporters? (more…)
Content, localisation, Marketing
This is a guest post from Steve Gotz of the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL).
I am excited to announce that the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL) will offer a ‘sneak peak’ at the localisation and global content intelligence technologies of the future, when we present our annual Innovation Showcase on 16th November 2011 at Croke Park Convention Centre, Dublin. The showcase will highlight the economic and societal impact of work at the SFI-funded centre, while also presenting a selection of exciting technologies that are ripe for commercialisation via a variety of channels.
Why should you attend?
Technologies such as machine translation, text analytics, speech processing, digital content slicing and adaptive hypermedia are radically changing the way businesses operate on a global scale. Attendees at the Innovation Showcase will have the opportunity to not only view fundamental scientific advances that will be impacting their businesses in the not-to-distant future but also a chance to discuss real-world challenges and opportunities with some of the leading academic minds in the fields.
Our showcases have become particularly fertile grounds for companies looking to solve specific problems or find new product offerings. I look forward to a productive day working with the indigenous community of Multinationals and SMEs to ensure that Ireland remains at the forefront of content management and localisation innovation.
CNGL’s Innovation Showcase is being presented as part of the Innovation Dublin Festival 2011. The event open to the public and free to attend; however spaces are limited. For full details and to register, see www.cngl.ie/showcase
CNGL, Collaboration Tools, Content, DCU, I18N, Innovation Dublin, localisation, SFI, Tools, Trinity, UCD, UL
This is a guest post from Conor Cahill who uses Drupal to make people friendly and search engine friendly websites.
What do the White House, Oxfam International and Bob Dylan have in common?
All have noteworthy websites built with Drupal – an open source content management platform which powers millions of websites and applications. It’s built, used, and supported by an active and diverse community of people around the world.
DrupalCamp Derry is geared to both beginners and those experienced in using and developing Drupal – with a view to learning about and sharing knowledge of Drupal.
Experienced developers will enjoy lightning talks on topics including responsive design and development best practice, as well as practical problem solving discussions. Beginners will enjoy a 3 hour training session in getting started with Drupal.
The conference is free.
Register your place at DrupalCamp Derry at www.drupalcampireland.org.
Community, Content, Derry, Developer, Drupal, DrupalCamp, Learning, LondonDerry, Management, Northern Ireland, Open source, Potential Exporters
This is a guest post from Ciara Cotter, Enterprise and International Affairs Executive at Science Foundation Ireland.
As part of its series of Enterprise Workshops, Science Foundation Ireland is planning to host a Workshop in the area of Digital Content. In order to ensure that the most pressing needs of companies in relation to technology/expertise challenges that they face are addressed, SFI are asking key companies/groups in this area to identify those themes where they feel that there may be a gap in their capabilities.
SFI will develop an agenda tailored to meet the needs of companies as identified by this survey. The agenda will consist of short, highly targeted talks by research groups with high relevance to those areas selected. The agenda will also allow for sufficient networking opportunities and engagement with other Enterprise Agencies.
Click here to participate in the survey and to ensure that you receive your invite to the event.
Content, Digital, Potential Exporters, SFI
As Irish companies expand their global reach through the internet, the need to create websites especially designed for foreign markets has greatly increased. The first step to reaching a foreign audience is translating your website content into the native language in question.
In general, Irish companies are not too bad at translating their sites for foreign markets, says Damian Scattergood, managing director of Star Translation Services. “Ireland is the centre of the world for translation. We benefit from having massive software companies here and they have brought a lot technical know-how into the country. Because of that, over the last 15 to 20 years, a huge amount of localisation experience has been built into the country. We also have a very multicultural population, and that gives us the benefit of a natural awareness of language.” (more…)
Content, Copy, eBusinesslive, eMarketing, localisation
For many small businesses, the prospect of digging into their web traffic details to extract useful business information can seem highly technical and somewhat daunting.
But without intelligent use of website visitor data, your company will miss out on vital information, such as how many visitors your company website is getting, where they begin and end their visit to your website, and how they found your site in the first place. (more…)
Analytics, Content, eBusinesslive, eMarketing, Google, Keywords, Location, Tools, Traffic
The recent explosion of social media has created new and exciting ways for SMEs to reach their customers. Millions of people use social media tools such as Facebook on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, micro-blogging site Twitter offers companies quick and easy ways to connect with their customers and clients. However, just 17 percent of UK retailers’ email campaigns in 2009 incorporated social networking elements, according to an annual benchmark study by marketing agency dotMailer. (more…)
Content, eBusinesslive, Email marketing, eMarketing, Social Media
Email marketing can be a relatively cheap and effective way to stay in touch with customers, win new business, and advertise. And in these recessionary times, email marketing is proving especially popular among small businesses with limited marketing budgets.
It’s easy to see why. Email marketing generated an ROI of USD43.62 for every dollar spent in 2009, according to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association – out-performing all other direct marketing channels in the process. (more…)
Content, eBusinesslive, Email marketing, eMarketing
Video grabs attention much faster than text does, so many companies are now promoting themselves online using video created by themselves or by hired professionals. Video can drive your marketing strategy and generate interest in your company far beyond anything a brochure could achieve.
However, it’s not always easy to produce good video content, especially if you have limited video production experience and a small budget. (more…)
Content, eBusinesslive, eMarketing, Video, web
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