Category: Irish Tech News

Campaign shot on mobile phones shows real life impact of high-speed fibre broadband for two Irish families

A new National Broadband Ireland (NBI) advertising campaign features two Irish families demonstrating the benefit of Ireland’s National Broadband Plan in their daily lives in videos filmed entirely on their mobile phones. The campaign follows ‘A Day in the Life’ of two Irish families – the Curley family in Co. Galway and the Randall’s Ayle Farm in Co. Tipperary.

The campaign is part of NBI’s commitment to create limitless opportunities through connectivity and access to high-speed fibre broadband for those living in rural communities, where such services are not available commercially. The campaign is running across social, digital and VOD channels including: RTE, Virgin Media and Channel 4.

The videos show the positive impact that high-speed broadband has made for both the Curley family and Randall’s, who have seen massive improvements in internet speeds, and also experience benefits for family’s life, business enterprises and careers.

Peter and Lorraine Randall in Co Tipperary, bought Ayle Farm in 2005 and produce award winning artisan chutneys, granola, and more in small batches. One of the added benefits of the installation of the fast speed solution by NBI, is the security aspect for rural businesses and enterprises. Peter Randall is able to access alerts and live feeds across the farm, “which are things we could never do before”, he says.

Lorraine Randall explained how access to high-speed broadband has meant she could begin working for a global company as one of the conditions was access to “good internet speed so I could work from home”, she remarks. 

In the new post-pandemic era of remote working, The Curley Family in Co. Galway echo this sentiment stating that they are saving almost 2 hours of a commute each day by working remotely – leaving more time for family, activities and the children. On the video we see the Curley family describe that “back in March 2021 our download speed was 1.35Mb and in 2022 our download speed is now 640Mb – we now know what a true internet connect is”.

The Campaign development has been managed by Pauline Broderick, Head of Marketing at National Broadband Ireland, who says:

“NBI is delighted to launch  the first phase of our new advertising campaign, illustrating  the real-life impact of high-speed fibre broadband on the well-being and quality of life of those families involved. The aim of the campaign is to allow NBI’s end users to describe their own experience of gaining access to the fibre network, enabling families throughout Ireland to become multi-device households, and to ensure businesses can make use of new technology and open up economic opportunities in the future. 

Overall, 1.1 million people living and working in almost 560,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms, are set to benefit from access to the broadband network being rolled out by NBI under the National Broadband Plan. The videos give a small glimpse into the real-life experiences and upsides, as a result of the high-speed broadband connections.”

NBI is the company rolling out the new high-speed fibre broadband network under the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP). To date, a total of 18,592* premises – including homes, schools, businesses and community facilities – are now connected to NBI’s network, meaning that these premises now have guaranteed access to minimum broadband speeds of 500Mb.

The campaign reflects National Broadband Ireland’s strategic approach to transform Ireland’s broadband landscape. The plan is to deliver quality, affordable high-speed broadband throughout Ireland including areas where such services are not available commercially.

Commenting on the campaign, TJ Malone, Chief Executive Officer at National Broadband Ireland said: 

“There has never been a more appropriate time to introduce high speed fibre broadband in rural Ireland. During the pandemic, many families were forced to rely on their internet connection to complete daily tasks such as working remotely, home schooling and other daily roles. Remote and hybrid working is still a factor to consider for homes and businesses meaning high-speed fibre broadband is still a requirement in these rural areas. At National Broadband Ireland, we are committed to connecting families, homes and businesses to the network throughout the country.”

Skillnet Ireland and IDA Ireland launch collaboration to accelerate disruptive innovation in multinationals through partnerships with Irish SME’s

IDA Ireland and Skillnet Ireland have today announced a new collaboration between IDA Ireland’s Disruptive Technologies Partnering Portal (DTTP) and The Innovation Exchange from Skillnet Ireland. The partnership has an objective to accelerate world class partnerships between multinationals and Irish SMEs in digital, disruptive, and sustainable technology solutions that can drive enterprise competitiveness, growth, and transformation.

The Innovation Exchange – DTPP collaboration provides a new business-2-business engagement framework. This framework enables multinationals to raise business challenges and needs aligned to business objectives and provides a platform for Irish SMEs to present their innovative technology-based solutions to address such.

The engagement framework is enabled by the DTPP, an online searchable platform developed by IDA and Enterprise Ireland that profiles enterprise capacity and needs in digital, disruptive, and sustainable technologies, enabling companies to directly connect for partnership opportunities.

In addition to the DTPP, the engagement framework will include The Innovation Exchange programme, where multinationals will voice their challenges and needs and provide an opportunity for Irish SMEs to present solutions to accelerate innovation within both the large and smaller firms. Under this framework Irish SMEs can avail of mentoring, training and other supports to build the necessary skills to position these solutions to multinationals.

Skillnet Ireland will invest €5 million in The Innovation Exchange over the next 5 years to support more than 1000 businesses, while IDA will continue to offer free access to the DTPP for companies and access to a variety of supports to enable business transformation.  This collaboration between Skillnet Ireland and IDA Ireland is a fantastic opportunity for Irish SMEs and multinational enterprises to work together in partnership to drive digitalisations and collaborative opportunities, utilising the best of the Irish innovative infrastructure.

IDA Ireland’s Michael Lohan, Head of Life Sciences and Talent Transformation & Innovation, commented: “This is a great example of the way the infrastructure works together for the benefit of enterprise. I welcome our on-going and close working partnership with Skillnet Ireland.   A key objective for IDA Ireland is to engage SMEs and multinational companies for the benefit of enterprise and the economy.  Irish companies are innovative and smart and are supporting our multinational community to thrive and innovate in Ireland. This is a very exciting initiative and adds huge value to the DTPP.’

Skillnet Ireland’s Mark Jordan, Chief Strategic Officer, said: “Our focus at Skillnet Ireland is on driving business success and enabling innovation within both multinationals and SMEs. The Innovation Exchange has been very powerful in doing exactly that, by connecting large firms seeking business solutions with SMEs that can provide them. We welcome this collaboration with IDA Ireland which will add greatly to driving innovation across a wide range of areas including digitalisation, climate and advanced manufacturing.”

To find out more about The Innovation Exchange and to apply online, visit https://theinnovationexchange.ie/. To learn more about the DTPP and register your enterprise profile, solution and/or need, visit https://www.dtpp.ie/. Successful application to either programme will enable participants to avail of both initiatives.

IDA Ireland launches two online self-assessment tools for client companies that will help companies assess current activities that enable advanced manufacturing or digitalisation of services

IDA Ireland today launched two online self-assessment tools for client companies that will help companies assess current activities that enable advanced manufacturing or digitalisation of services, in addition to helping define and prioritise activities needed to build future capacity and capabilities to achieve successful transformation and growth. The tools launched today are:

  1. Advanced Manufacturing Diagnostic that assesses the organisational maturity of disruptive digital and sustainable technologies of manufacturing organisations.
  2. Digitalisation Diagnostic for Services that assesses the digitalisation maturity of services organisations.

IDA Ireland is focused on supporting our client companies’ transformation to enhance their overall competitiveness using digital disruptive and sustainable technologies.

These diagnostics are targeted at companies that want to equip their people for change, to increase their organisational resilience and become more sustainable.

These main functions of these online self-assessment diagnostics are as follows:

  • Assess current and future technology capability and capacity levels for IDA clients for both manufacturing and services organisations
  • Identify existing gaps and highlight strengths
  • Define and prioritise digitalisation activities enabling advanced manufacturing and digital enterprise
  • Provide recommendations/action plan for future proofing Irish multinational companies.

Commenting on the launch of these tools, Michael Lohan, Divisional Manager Life Sciences and Talent Transformation & Innovation at IDA Ireland said: “One of the key elements of IDA Ireland’s strategy, ‘Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth’ is to support company transformation and these diagnostic tools will help our clients to establish their current and future technology & talent or skills needs.  This will be essential in positioning them for growth as technology adoption and digital transformation accelerates.”

Minister Harris launches Skillnet Ireland programme to tackle the staff shortage in the Wind Sector

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris T.D. today announced the expansion of Green Tech Skillnet’s Wind Turbine Technician programme at Raheenleagh Wind Farm near Arklow, Co. Wicklow.

With energy prices increasing, the need to move to domestically generated sustainable energy is becoming ever more apparent. The programme will provide a vital pipeline of workers with the green energy skills needed to meet Ireland’s 2030 targets for CO2 emissions reduction and renewable energy provision.

The programme is aimed at people with electrical, mechanical or engineering backgrounds and once complete the trainee will be certified with Wind Turbine Technicians. The course is delivered in two stages, the first phase being in-person technical training followed by an industry placement. The Green Tech Skillnet, the facilitator of the programme, works to support companies such as ESB, GE, EDF and Energia to name but a very few, in order to ensure that this industry has the skills and talent required to meet our climate action targets.

Launching the programme, Minister Harris said: “We have set ambitious climate targets for 2030 and ensuring we have the right talent is vital in making those commitments a reality. Today we launch the Wind Turbine Technicians programme from Green Tech Skillnet and Skillnet Ireland, which will play a critical role to ensure industry identified skills and talent requirements are met. My Department and I are delighted to support this programme through the National Training Fund, ensuring that we have qualified people ready to take up roles to tackle the climate crisis.”

 Speaking at the launch Paul Healy, Chief Executive Skillnet Ireland said: “Skillnet Ireland are committed to delivering a talent pipeline so businesses are equipped with the skills needed to take climate action which we all know is urgently needed.  We are working across multiple sectors, from FDI to SMEs to develop industry led training and upskilling initiatives which will be critical to achieving our climate action targets.”

Also commenting at the launch, Justin Moran, Director of External Affairs, Wind Energy Ireland: “With a massive ramp up in investment in Onshore and Offshore Wind in the coming years, there is a skills shortage in the number of wind technicians in Ireland. This programme designed in partnership with enterprise will train 30 wind turbine technicians in 2022, providing essential skills needed help meet Ireland’s Climate Action Plan targets.”

FANUC opens first dedicated Irish robotics facility in response to growing manufacturing demand

In response to increased demand from its Irish customer base, leading robotics and automation company FANUC will officially open the doors to its first ever dedicated facility in Ireland on 11th October 2022. Located in Maynooth, Co Kildare, the unveiling of the 500m2 training centre and showroom will be overseen by FANUC’s European President & CEO Shinichi Tanzawa in the presence of a select group of local dignitaries, academics, government officials, press, system integrator partners and valued customers. 

“We are delighted to announce the opening of our first Irish facility,” states Tom Bouchier, Managing Director of FANUC UK & Ireland. “Not only does it demonstrate our long-term commitment to our growing customer base in the country, but it also enables us to support the government’s aim to place Ireland at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by 2025.”

Live robot demonstrations

The official opening will provide the perfect platform for a live demonstration of the recently released LR-10iA; FANUC’s lightweight, strong and compact robot series. Perfect for use in confined workspaces, the LR-10iA is suitable for all types of material handling applications, such as loading/unloading directly in a machine tool, or high-speed picking and packaging directly on a conveyor belt. Visitors to the Maynooth facility opening in October will be able to witness its full range of benefits at close quarters.

As well as the LR-10iA, the new showroom will be stocked with a range of robotics and automation solutions for demonstration, evaluation and test purposes. Latest FANUC innovations on display will include the CRX cobot range, a series of lightweight collaborative robots that boast eight years zero maintenance; and the ROBODRILL vertical machining centre, delivering precision and repeatability making it perfect for fully automated production runs.

Local, on the ground support

The new Maynooth facility will be supported by a five-strong team of dedicated staff with the ability to provide local technical support and servicing, with a view to increasing this into double figures over the next two years. The site will also host organised, in-house training for FANUC’s larger customers and scheduled courses catering for smaller groups; previously, Irish clients would have had to travel to Coventry in England. In addition, the company will continue to develop its strong ties with Ireland’s higher education network, including the Technical Universities. 

The drive towards Industry 4.0

Located just 45 minutes’ drive from Dublin and within a 90-minute radius of many of FANUC’s Irish customers and partners, the Maynooth facility is accessible from most of the island in about three hours, making it the ideal location for FANUC’s Irish HQ. Its launch could not be timelier, coinciding with the implementation of the Irish Government’s wider industrial strategy, ‘Ireland’s Industry 4.0 Strategy 2020-2025’. Ireland currently lags behind the European average in robot penetration, with the second-lowest robot density in the EU15 in 2019. However, the Government’s strategy is that, by 2025, Ireland will be a competitive, innovation-driven manufacturing hub and at the forefront of Industry 4.0 development and adoption. With several hundred FANUC robots already installed in Ireland, the new facility at Maynooth means the company is ideally placed to help Irish businesses close the gap and profit from the new opportunities, supported by its network of expert integrator partners. 

“The indicators are very strongly pointing towards more investment in manufacturing equipment in Ireland,” says Tom Bouchier. “The country’s technologically advanced, efficient and competitive future manufacturing sector and its supply chain is one that FANUC Ireland will be at heart of.”

Esri’s digital mapping system empowers Inland Fisheries Ireland to safeguard marine fish stocks

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is announcing that its digital mapping system is being used by Inland Fisheries Ireland and the sea angling community in Ireland to help safeguard fish populations and protect marine ecosystems. Esri’s ArcGIS system supports the Irish Marine Recreational Angling Survey (IMREC) which aims to estimate sea anglers’ catches in Ireland. Up to 250,000 recreational sea anglers are active along the 3,000km of Irish coastline annually.

Inland Fisheries Ireland is Ireland’s state agency for protecting, managing and conserving inland fisheries and sea angling resources. To meet its EU data collection requirements around species, locations, and volumes of fish caught annually in European waters, Inland Fisheries Ireland saw a need for a collaborative approach to collate its own data with self-reporting by recreational sea anglers.

Turning anglers into citizen scientists, Esri’s Survey123 app has transformed reporting and enables anglers around Ireland to gather and upload real-time information from any device about the fish they catch and release. This information is then automatically transferred to a shared repository, called ArcGIS Hub, where it can be easily viewed by the anglers and monitored by Inland Fisheries Ireland to identify patterns in the species distribution, volumes and weight of fish caught, and estimated catch rates. Whether they are shore anglers, small boat anglers or charter boat anglers, each member has access to a personalised dashboard where they can track their own contributions and angling successes.

Inland Fisheries Ireland has greater control over and confidence in the accuracy and consistency of the data collected, and the system encourages anglers to play an active role in helping to conserve Ireland’s fish stocks. Data is aggregated for reporting and the system minimises manual data entry, is scalable and can grow with the scheme. The EU is particularly interested in data on cod, pollock, sharks, rays, sea bass and highly migratory species such as tuna, but the solution can be configured to capture data on other species too, giving Inland Fisheries Ireland flexibility for the future.

The state agency had success recently using Esri’s ArcGIS system to enable accurate reporting for a catch, tag and release programme for the critically endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.

William Roche, Senior Research Officer at Inland Fisheries Ireland: “ArcGIS will enable us to recruit anglers as citizen scientists and crowdsource the large volume of data that we require for EU and national reporting. With more anglers collecting data, we will be able to build up a better picture of the state of fish stocks off Ireland’s coast, particularly for anglers. “The personalised dashboards will help to make the recording of data a habitual activity for anglers. We hope they will enjoy entering their catch data and take pride in their role as observers and stewards of Ireland’s fish stocks.”

Schalk Van Lill, Customer Success Manager, Esri Ireland: “We are delighted to work with Inland Fisheries Ireland on this project and enable the ongoing monitoring and safeguarding of fish populations. Our GIS solution has provided Inland Fisheries Ireland with a feasible and affordable way to capture additional data to complement the other data collected for the EU. “Citizen science like this provides broad spatial coverage all around the coastline of Ireland, enabling Inland Fisheries Ireland to efficiently comply with requirements. The solution can be easily scaled up to accept data uploads from more and more participants, allowing Inland Fisheries Ireland to expand the scheme over time.”

Irish Tech Firm Xtremepush Wins ‘Online Initiative of The Year’ for “Outstanding progress in the fight against phishing” At Europe FinTech Awards 2022

Irish tech firm Xtremepush has won Online Initiative of the Year at the Europe FinTech Awards, 2022, for the work they did with one of Ireland’s biggest financial institutions to reduce online fraud.

CELEBRATING EUROPE’S FINEST FINTECHS

Irish tech firm Xt

remepush has won Online Initiative of the Year at the Europe FinTech Awards, 2022, for the work they did with one of Ireland’s biggest financial institutions to reduce online fraud.

The Europe FinTech Awards 2022 in association with ID-Pal is the benchmark by which financial services modernisation and technological progress in the world’s premier financial services centres are judged by an independent panel of experts.

“Outstanding progress in the fight against phishing”

The independent panel of judges voted Xtremepush “The winner of Online Initiative of the Year because they presented an excellent solution to a very real problem, utilising its technology to achieve a significant reduction in fraudulent activity. This initiative also demonstrates the solution’s ability to scale up in the future. Outstanding progress in the fight against phishing.”

Commenting on the award CTO Dr Kevin Collins said “We are delighted with this significant win. Phishing scams and identity fraud increased by 184% in 2021, costing the Irish economy €1 billion every year, so our objective was to quickly put in place a failsafe that would make it significantly harder for fraudsters to gain access to customer bank accounts. Based on research, €8,000 is defrauded for every 1,000 people in Ireland. Our innovation led directly to a circa 50% reduction in phishing attempts as part of a wider strategy to reduce fraud.”

He added “Our innovation allowed the bank to provide customers with a secure notification and reliable verification alerting solution that didn’t require adding any complexity or multi-stage processes to their banking experience. The result is a robust level of protection from fraud and cyber-criminals.”

Working with the financial institution, Xtremepush developed a revised verification process to reinforce the existing anti-fraud measures. The company developed and deployed a solution within six weeks to significantly reduce fraudulent activity.

Dr Kevin Collins added “We needed to utilise the existing technology and deliver an effective response to the issue of fraud that wouldn’t significantly impact the user experience for the bank’s 2 million customers.”

The solution allowed the bank’s customers to confirm the validity of device registration and add new account payees by leveraging a multi-channel communication strategy. This allowed the customer to either confirm or reject the request and alert the bank to take steps to re-secure their account if this was required.

Xtremepush faced several challenges: the solution needed to work the first time, said Collins. “Because we were taking direct action against fraudsters and cyber-criminals, a miscalculation on our part would have allowed them to find a way around the solution”

Secondly, the company needed to work fast: comments Xtremepush CEO Tommy Kearns “We were approached by our client at the end of 2021 with an urgent request to help combat fraud. We needed to respond quickly and decisively with a solution that could be rolled out with minimal disruption alongside other anti-fraud measures the bank was deploying.” He added, “we had to work within the existing infrastructure and compliance requirements of our client to avoid any disruption to banking services via the mobile app and to ensure we were fully compliant with guidelines and regulations. And of course, any solution we proposed had to operate within established security standards of the bank as well as GDPR and other data protection legislation.”

Xtremepush goes global

Xtremepush will more than double its workforce here in support of the global roll-out of its award-winning enterprise customer intelligence platform and recently announced it has created fifty new roles this year, with plans to add another 120 in the next three years, and a new purpose-built Dublin HQ in Clarendon Street, Dublin 2.

“We are already becoming a global category leader, working with leading enterprise clients from offices in Ireland, the United Kingdom, North America and Eastern Europe. Our new Dublin flagship headquarters, in this prime location, is a marker of further growth acceleration” said CEO Tommy Kearns.

Reflecting this push into the US market, the company has recently invested in a new office in downtown Manhattan in New York to meet that ambition and support the firm’s accelerated growth in North America, where they recently won Marketing & Services Provider of the Year at the SBC North America 2022 Awards.

The SBC Awards recognize the achievements of operators, affiliates and suppliers from all the major disciplines including payments, marketing, platform providers and data. The 2022 SBC Awards North America also celebrate the companies surviving and thriving 2022 through these unprecedented times.

About Xtremepush

Founded in 2014 in Ranelagh in Dublin, by CEO Tommy Kearns and Dr Kevin Collins, its Chief Technical Officer, Xtremepush has been placed in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards for three consecutive years.

Xtremepush works with a global portfolio of clients across several key verticals including banking & financial services, eCommerce, sports betting & gaming, travel & transport and publishing & media. The company owns its technology, end-to-end, supporting a single customer view, with ‘one platform’ serving all marketing needs.

Deep data & real time capabilities make Xtremepush a go-to multichannel marketing hub for enterprise brands. It enables businesses to acquire new customers and communicate with existing customers through automated, real-time and personalised messaging.

Clients include leading Irish financial institutions, McDonald’s, INM Plc, RTÉ, Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Big Bus Tours, Wowcher, LiveScore, Oddschecker, Paddy Power Betfair and more. Xtremepush is an employer in Ireland, the UK, the US, Ukraine, Lithuania, Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania.

Laying the Foundations for a Cyber Resilient Future – Jason Ward, Vice President and Managing Director, Dell Technologies Ireland

With citizens, governments, and businesses more dependent than ever on digital connectivity, one of the most pressing sectoral issues for this decade is cybersecurity.

While this issue has been in the public consciousness for some time now, there is still a wide perception gap in Ireland between business leaders who consider cyber security a priority, and the lack of implementation of security strategies within their own organisations[1].

The reality is that cybercrime is showing no signs of slowing down, posing risks across all aspects of society. In 2021, ransomware attacks were up 150% and more than 80% of experts say this growth is now threatening public safety[2]. Here in Ireland, the Garda National Cybercrime Bureau has seen a significant increase in the number of ransomware attacks in 2021[3]. These statistics demonstrate the gravity and prevalence of cybercrime today. The question is, as we focus on global recovery, and a new era of economic growth, how do we protect against cyber threats?

In order to deliver on globally ambitious designs of digital inclusion, sustainability, improved health outcomes, defence, and much more for the economies of tomorrow; cyber resiliency is a key building block and enabler.

The adverse financial impacts involved with cybercrime are seismic, and unsustainable for economies to absorb long-term. It’s no secret that advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and IoT are the key building blocks for future progress, but perhaps ironically, it’s these same technologies that can present new opportunities for cyber criminals.

The ultimate challenge will be securing such technologies and enabling more resilient, long-term solutions to the threats posed by cyber criminals. To make this vision a reality, the need for collaboration and support between the public and private sectors has never been more vital.

SME Cyber support vital for wider economy

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of local economies. Yet they increasingly find themselves the target of cyberattacks. Almost one in three small and medium firms in Ireland say they have experienced some form of cybercrime in the past year, according to an EU survey. Irish SMEs recorded above-average levels of incidents with ransomware compared to other EU countries[4].

It is essential that we work to support and protect such businesses, particularly as we look to build more resilient, balanced societies. SMEs, unlike other businesses, often require and are entitled to greater government support and nurture. Governments that recognise SMEs as integral to a truly flourishing society will empower and deliver the most economic progress. Helping these smaller organisations protect themselves against the ever-growing cybersecurity threat must be a priority for public sector recovery strategists, in the months and years ahead.

The convergence of proactive and reactive digital resilience strategy is now imperative across organisations, businesses, and industries – cybersecurity defences alone are no longer enough. Organisations need to integrate resilience into all areas of their businesses’ digital transformation planning and operations[5]. This will be a key focus of the Dell Technologies Forum, which we will be hosting at the Convention Centre on September 27th.

Public to Private Sector Empowerment

It is now more important than ever that public sector infrastructure empowers business resilience to help identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover from a cyberattack and enable a rapid return to fully functioning operations. Even with strong cyber defences in place, it’s impossible for companies to avoid all cyber disasters and their resultant, adverse impacts on data, privacy, and trust. Therefore, the key objective should be developing a cyber resilience strategy that can anticipate and quickly recover from significant disruption.

One essential component of such resilience is to create and implement thorough cybersecurity training exercises amongst workforces. This not only prepares employees to identify security risks and lures, but also heightens awareness and reinforces the need for teamwork, skills, and collaboration across the whole organisation.

From the development of a baseline security standard to be applied by all Government Departments and key agencies through to the creation of a Public Sector IT Security Forum to facilitate information sharing and support the deployment of the baseline security standard, it’s positive to see Government prioritise a top-down and unified approach to cyber security within our public services.

However, given the fast pace of digital transformation and the ever-evolving nature of cyber threats, there is a need to ensure even closer links between Government and industry so that Irish businesses and the public sector remain one step ahead of any cyber threats before they emerge.

As innovation transforms our economy, helping it to meet pressing challenges in areas ranging from education to justice to health, so too should our cyber resilience strategies be evolving to ensure the continuity of these vital services.

By adopting a proactive, collaborative and unified approach to cyber resilience, we can turbocharge our long-term economic prosperity and innovation, creating a more agile and resilient infrastructure that provides the digital defences crucial to modern Ireland’s recovery.

 To register for the Dell Technologies Forum on September 27th at the Convention Centre, visit: https://events.dell.com/event/14f9f60b-bbb9-4e58-bbef-ab6206452026/summary

[1] https://www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-ie/products/data-protection/briefs-summaries/cyber-resilience-survey-ireland-2022.pdf

[2] https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-cybersecurity-outlook-2022/

[3] https://www.garda.ie/en/crime/cyber-crime/increase-in-the-number-of-ransomware-attacks-in-2021.html

[4] https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2280

[5] https://www.echosec.net/blog/data-breach-detection#:~:text=The%20length%20of%20a%20data,vulnerable%20for%20over%209%20months

Ireland’s National IP Protocol recognised as EU best practice

Ireland’s National IP Protocol (our guidelines and framework for commercialising State research) has been published as an example of European best practice on a new EU platform.

The Knowledge Valorisation Platform connects players in the EU with the common goal to transform excellent research results and data produced in Europe into sustainable products and solutions for the benefit of all – be it economic prosperity, environmental benefits, societal progress or improved policy making.

The platform provides a space for stakeholders to share best practices and establish contacts, to exchange experiences and co-design guidance, and to stay connected to EU developments in knowledge valorisation. The aim of the platform is to ultimately improve policies and enhance capacities and skills.

Research Commercialisation

Ireland’s framework for research commercialisation is called the National IP Protocol. It provides for best practice, guidance for research-related engagements between industry and State research performing organisations (RPOs) and the formation of spin-out companies from State research.

This protocol and an accompanying resource guide which are housed on the Knowledge Transfer Ireland website have now been published on a European Commission Research and Innovation website, where Ireland joins other leaders in this area including Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and France.

Imelda Lambkin, Manager Disruptive Technology, Innovation & Knowledge Transfer at Enterprise Ireland said:

“Ireland is showing itself to be a leader in the field of knowledge transfer and research commercialisation. We may be a small country, but we certainly punch above our weight in this area, and the publication of the National IP Protocol as best practice by a key EU agency is testament to that.

“Our annual AKTS (Annual Knowledge Transfer Survey) – published just last month – showed that Irish research performing organisations (universities, institutes of technology and other publicly funded research institutions), are spending upwards of half a billion euro on research expenditure.

“2021’s figure of €672m is the highest on record, and an increase of over one-third since KTI began collating research expenditure in 2013. Engaging with the third level on R&D is known to make businesses more competitive than those who don’t.”

IP Protocol

The Irish National IP Protocol includes chapters on spin-out company formation, intellectual property, licensing and research collaboration.

It is about helping industry, from start-ups and small and medium enterprises to multinational corporations, entrepreneurs and investors to access the research and development carried out in Ireland’s universities, institutes of technology and other public research institutions (collectively termed ‘Research Performing Organisations’ or RPOs).

It sets out the Government’s policy for research commercialisation and describes the practical arrangements for this to happen. The IP Protocol also sets expectations – on RPOs and on parties wishing to engage with RPOs.

Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI, the national office responsible for oversight of the knowledge transfer system) is responsible for developing and updating the IP Protocol.

For further information see: https://www.knowledgetransferireland.com/ and https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/eu-valorisation-policy/knowledge-valorisation-platform/repository/irelands-national-ip-protocol-and-resource-guide