10 Things I learned at Microsoft’s WPC Partner Conference 2011

Posted by Paul Browne on 18 July, 2011 in Cloud Computing | Conference | Event | Managed Services | Microsoft | Networking | Saas | Uncategorized | US - (1 Comments)

We’ve just spent the week working with the 13 Irish companies at the Enterprise Ireland Stand at Microsoft’s World Partner Conference in LA. That’s not counting the 20 or so other Irish Software companies that also attended the event.  It’s a big conference (about 15,000 attendees from around the world) and the quality of the people that we met was equally impressive.

From an ‘Ireland Inc’ point of view, what struck me how many people that knew about our current economic situation, but also how many people knew about the shining star that is the Irish Software sector. Invariably, these conversations were followed by a question ‘how can we help?’.

On a more personal note, I wanted to capture my thoughts on what worked, what didn’t work for the companies while it’s still fresh in my mind;

  1. Know why you’re going;  Going to an event like WPC isn’t cheap – a week of your time, even before conference ticket and travel costs. Be very clear about why you’re attending and who you need to meet.  Answers ranged from Market Research, to initial partner contacts, to seal relationships built online in the previous 12 months. (more…)

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SFI Digital Ireland Workshop

Posted by Ciara Cotter on 1 July, 2011 in Digital Media | Event - (Be the first to comment)

As part of its series of Enterprise Workshops, Science Foundation Ireland will host a Digital Ireland Workshop in the Guinness Storehouse on 25 July 2011. In order to ensure that the most pressing needs of companies in relation to technology/expertise challenges that they face are addressed SFI conducted a survey earlier this year asking key companies/groups in this area to identify those themes (from a shortlist provided) where they feel that there may be a gap in their capabilities.

This workshop agenda has been tailored to meet those requirements with talks by leading researchers such as Prof Barry Smyth Digital Professor of Computer Science, UCD & Director of Clarity Centre for Sensor Web Technologies (UCD/DCU), Prof Anil Kokaram, Founder and CEO of GreenParrotPictures and Associate Professor at Trinity College Dublin and Prof Barry O’Sullivan, Director, Cork Constraint Computation Centre (4C), UCC.

Other addresses include Mark Little, Journalist and Founder of Storyful and Neil Leyden, Chair of Digital Media Forum and Winner of Your Country Your Call Competition – Irish International Content Services Centre.

Click here for full agenda and registration.

Logo of Science Foundation Ireland

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Open Data 18-Hour Challenge

Posted by Brianne McCarthy on 28 June, 2011 in Developers | Event | Innovation - (Be the first to comment)

We’ve heard of 7/11 and 24/7 before, but what about the 18-hour challenge?

No, it isn’t a fast, and it’s nothing to do with undertaking grueling marathons, either.

Organised by Irish/Welsh partnership Inventorium, the Open Data 18-Hour Challenge – which takes place in Dublin July 4th/5th – is all about asking important, socially conscious questions (for example, what level of support for senior citizens is there in your area? Is there a safe cycle route to school for your children?) and trying to come up with the right answers.

Logo for Open Data Event

The development of solutions to questions such as these (or, indeed, even an interest in the development of solutions) is what the Open Data 18-Hour Challenge constitutes. Just in case you’re not certain about what ‘Open Data’ is, it’s part of a new global wave of transparent governance whereby governments are presenting themselves as more accountable and responsive to the needs (and questions) of their citizens.

There is a neat twist to this event, though: during Ireland’s inaugural Open Data 18-Hour Challenge, there is an emphasis on practically demonstrating how Open Data can be used to develop viable businesses. Participants will work in mixed teams of Inventorium facilitators, graphic designers, commercial developers and local council experts to not only brainstorm but also generate and prototype new ideas based on Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council open data sets.

The event takes place on July 4th/5th at NDRC, Crane Street, Digital Hub, Dublin 8, and you can register for it here.

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Animation Ireland at Annecy

Posted by Eimear O'Rourke on 27 June, 2011 in Event | Gaming - (1 Comments)

In early June a group of Enterprise Ireland media clients arrived in Annecy, France for MIFA, the biggest animation focused event in the world. They joined 7000 participants from 70 different countries for a series of conferences, screenings and presentations. These companies – including Kavaleer, Brown Bag Films, Cartoon Saloon and Monster Distributes – represent the best of Irish innovation, providing a broad range of animation styles for a number of different platforms.

Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Film Board hosted a reception for the Irish participants and their guests on Thursday evening. Brown Bag Films Chief Executive Cathal Gaffney delivered a keynote speech, followed by the launch of a new showreel, showcasing the best of Irish animation. The event was attended by over one hundred industry professionals, including international broadcasters, distributors and producers.

 

View The Animation Ireland Showreel on the EnterpriseIrelandTV YouTube Channel

The week came to a fantastic end with the presentation of two prizes for EI clients. Enterprise Ireland client Boulder Media were awarded Best TV Production for “The Amazing World of Gumball- The Quest”, a European co production. Cartoon Saloon’s work on the animated feature “Santa’s Apprentice” also picked up a special UNICEF prize for “Animated programme which best highlights the goals of the Convention on the Rights of the Child”.

For more information on Irish companies in this space please see the Animation Ireland website. For details on how Enterprise Ireland can help, please contact Eimear O’Rourke or Eileen Bell.

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EBRD seminar @ EI Dublin – 13 June

Posted by Evelyn Smith on 2 June, 2011 in Event | Links - (1 Comments)

Enterprise Ireland is hosting a half-day information seminar on Tendering Opportunities with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Monday AM, 13 June 2011.

The seminar will include presentations on the:

  • Structure of the EBRD and how it operates
  • Geographic markets in which the EBRD operates
  • Procurement process and requirements
  • Categories of goods and services purchased by the EBRD
  • How Enterprise Ireland can support companies with a strategic focus on markets where EBRD invests

Date:  Monday 13 June

Venue:  Enterprise Ireland, East Point Business Park, Dublin

Time: 09.30h

To secure a place at this seminar, please register on-line https://www.eventsforce.net/enterpriseireland/212/register

For further information, please contact evelyn.smith@enterprise-ireland.com T 01-727 2717

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Software Architecture Recovery & Consistency – 27th May 2011

Posted by Michael Hughes on 23 May, 2011 in Links - (Be the first to comment)

This is a guest post from Jack Downey of Lero. Jack will be speaking at EI’s Software Architecture Recovery & Consistency event in EI Eastpoint Dublin at 9am on Friday 27th May. For more details and booking for this free event, email Mary.Heasley[at]Enterprise-Ireland[dot]com.

Software architecture is the structuring of software systems in a manner that achieves desirable qualities (modifiability, improved performance, security) for its owners. However, particularly in respect to legacy software systems, an explicit architecture may never have been put in place. Even if an explicit architecture was put in place during system design, often this architecture is violated during implementation or subsequent evolution. The overall result is that there are many software systems without an explicit architecture, or with an implementation that is inconsistent with its designed architecture. In either case the ‘desirable qualities’ that could have been achieved are lost.

This Lero  seminar will present a number of strategies that can help redress these issues. Specifically, it will present a technique called Reflexion Modelling (and its associated prototype tool) which is aimed at recovering the architecture of software systems. Likewise it will present an approach (and prototype tool) that aims to heighten consistency between the implemented architecture and the designed architecture. It will illustrate the utility of these approaches by presenting case studies that we have performed at IBM Ireland and QAD Ireland.

Date: Friday, the 27th May 2011
Time: 9.00 am  -  1.00 pm
Venue: Enterprise Ireland, Eastpoint

Admission is free but places are limited.  If you are interested in attending this event please register by emailing mary.heasley@enterprise-ireland.com.

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Twitter now live on Enterprise Ireland Home page – get your message featured

Posted by Paul Browne on 22 May, 2011 in Links | Social Media - (Be the first to comment)

Along with the work we’re doing face to face with clients, we’ve been doing a lot more work online to promote EI clients using social media – partly recognized by the shortlisting for the Social Media Awards 2011.

Another step is that we’re now showing some of this client work  by  featuring Twitter messages from EI Staff on the corporate home page. Want to join the conversation? Follow the EI Staff on Twitter , use the #EntIrl tag and get in touch!

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Annual Procurement Conference

Posted by Stephen Hughes on 17 May, 2011 in Event | Links | Public procurement - (Be the first to comment)

The Forum on Public Procurement in Ireland (FPP) is hosting its annual conference in Dublin on Wednesday May 25th. The conference, which will be chaired by Mr Justice Frank Clarke, will gather key players in public procurement along with private sector expertise. The aim of the conference is to maximise the value for money achieved for expenditure on public procurement at national level, while also accommodating the requirement of Irish suppliers in an open and competitive market.



The one-day conference takes place at the O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel, Fenian Street, Dublin 2. Registration commences at 9am; included in the morning session are the conference’s Keynote Address by Phil Hogan, TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, a talk (Growth through Procurement) by Frank Ryan, CEO Enterprise Ireland, and a Q&A segment. After lunch, there will be a series of Breakout Sessions, followed by the Chairman’s Summary at 5pm.

Those interested in attending should contact Breda Byrne, Forum on Public Procurement in Ireland, 01-4020810 or by email at info@fpp.ie. You can also register to attend directly by visiting the FPP website.

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Meet Key European System Integrators at the Red Hat & JBoss EMEA Partner Summit, Dublin

Posted by Paul Browne on 12 May, 2011 in Conference | Dublin | Event | Links | Open source - (Be the first to comment)

We’re working with three key multinationals as part of Enterprise Ireland ‘Best Connected’ software strategy around their main partner events.  More details on the just announced Red Hat day for EI clients at the European Partner Summit (Dublin Convention Centre) is below, quick links to register for any of the three events are;

Enterprise Ireland Best Connected Day at the Red Hat & JBoss EMEA Partner Summit, 2011.

For the First time, the Red Hat & JBoss EMEA Partner Summit is coming to Dublin. This annual get together of the European Red Hat ecosystem attracts Global and Regional System Integrators, Solution Providers, Distributors, Resellers, Hardware Manufacturers, Training Companies and Software Vendors from across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and beyond.At the conference, they will join with the Red Hat Corporate Leadership team, including CEO, EVP Products & Technology, CTO as well as the product owners, who define the Red Hat direction, strategy and solutions in the areas of Cloud, Virtualization, Enterprise Middleware, Enterprise Linux and more.

Enterprise Ireland, through its BestConnected Software Strategy has arranged with Red Hat to provide EI Clients with special access on Tuesday 7th June for EUR 145. This is the first time Red Hat has allowed organisations outside the formal Red Hat partner network to attend and is a recognition of the high-caliber of indigenous Irish software companies.

Access to the partner summit is at a much reduced fee, with the focus on 1 day only of the summit. It includes a chance to meet other conference delegates, attend the technical streams and network with the full EMEA-wide channel ecosystem.

The Agenda Tuesday 7th June is here. One session available to EI clients only is the special opening keynote by Red Hat and Enterprise Ireland. After this attendees will have access to the full agenda of sessions.

Update: Paul Cormier (President of Products & Technology) will now be delivering a keynote to EI Clients on the day.

If you are interested, please complete the following registration form (Registration code ConDay11) and submit with “Finish your registration”. An automatically generated registration confirmation with your invoice enclosed will be sent to you afterwards. If you have further questions or any troubles with the registration process please contact support@partner-summit-2011.com.

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Tweet for Ireland on #IRLday!

Posted by Andrew Townley on 11 May, 2011 in eMarketing | Innovation | Ireland | Links | Social Media - (Be the first to comment)

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