After months of anticipation, the LEGO Group opened the doors to the first ever LEGO Store in Ireland. Located in the heart of Dublin at 41 Grafton Street, the LEGO Store is already delighting fans, both young and old, with an exciting collection of sets and experiences.
LEGO-lovers from far and wide gathered at the opening, excited to see the new features and the uniquely Irish themes displayed throughout the store. Customers were immersed in the LEGO magic with Irish dancers, a LEGO mascot, extravagant displays and branded theatre turning the top of Grafton Street into Ireland’s very own LEGO-land. Sadly I am away on hols at the moment but the first thing I will be doing is taking a visit when I return and perhaps add some more to my car collection.
Visitors to the new store will be treated to the new ‘Retailtainment’ concept which blends physical and digital experiences that allow shoppers to immerse themselves in the famous LEGO brick, as well as create personalised products. This includes:
Minifigure Factory: The LEGO Minifigure Factory allows visitors to design and create a unique LEGO Minifigure – the perfect souvenir from your visit or gift for someone else.
LEGO Pick a Brick Wall: The Pick a Brick Wall is a great way for fans to select the exact elements that they require for their builds.
Store Associates: Whether visitors are picking out a gift, looking for the latest set or bringing your LEGO fan in for a special treat, Brick Specialists can help find a set that’s the perfect fit.
Hands-on Play opportunities, including free build challenges and events each month.
Build a Minifigure Tower mix and match from a wide selection of bottoms, tops, heads, hair pieces and accessories to customize minifigures.
Exclusive LEGO models: Look out for eye-catching 3D LEGO models throughout the store inspired by the city of Dublin and Irish culture
Natali Stojovic, Senior Vice President, LEGO Retail, The LEGO Group, said, “We are elated to see so many loyal fans come out for the first ever Irish LEGO Store and are happily opening our doors to give them the full LEGO experience and a weekend they will never forget.
“It’s fantastic to see guests interact with the latest in-store experiences and the new Retailtainment concept. The Dublin store will allow builders of all ages to be inspired by endless play possibilities and for new builders to welcome them into a new exciting journey of discovery into the LEGO universe.”
The brand-new LEGO store is offering the full range of exciting new products only available direct from LEGO stores and shop.lego.com including the likes of LEGO Icons Atari 2600 and LEGO Icons Lion Knights’ Castle.
Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), has created a new digital map of the growing volume of Dublin street art that is dotted throughout the city and county.
The street art is part of Dublin Canvas, an inclusive public art initiative that adds a flash of colour and creativity to the traffic control boxes that are highly visible at traffic junctions throughout Dublin. Currently, there are over 600 pieces of artwork spread throughout the county, and it is expected that there will be over 750 pieces completed by the end of Autumn this year.
Using Esri’s ArcGIS system, the interactive digital map pinpoints exactly where each box is located and provides an image of each piece. A simple click on the image provides information about the art, along with the background story of the artist.
The art is painted by exceptionally creative and talented amateur and professional artists residing in Dublin. They come from all walks of life and range from students to retirees, barristers to baristas, and engineers to editors.
Be it the artwork of squirrels in Stepaside, beasts in Blackrock or fishermen on Fitzwilliam Street, the map can be used to discover inventive artwork nearby. There’s a varying mix of themes to suit everyone, to brighten up the wait time at a red light or to get inspired on a summer stroll.
Workato, the leading enterprise automation platform, plans to ramp up hiring at its Dublin office in Ireland after a year of record momentum, which included launching its firstEuropean data centre in Germany in May 2021, raising over$420 million in total fundingto date with a $5.7 billion valuation last November, and recently being named to the2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 List.
The Irish base opened last September and has hired 10 people since opening the Dublin office at the WeWork building. The new office will result in the creation of 50 jobs over the next 3+ years approximately, with predominantly sales, marketing and engineering staff. Their focus will be to support Workato’s current customers in the region and the business expansion in the European commercial and enterprise segments.
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in California, United States, Workato supports customers throughout EMEA with operations currently in Spain, UK, Germany, France, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands and Italy. Workato’s current customer base comprises companies from the tech, financial services and fintech, transport and logistics, ecommerce and retail industries. Customers include Nokia, FreeNow, Adevinta and Web Summit. As part of the company’s mission to improve the way enterprises work, Workato is also forming new strategic partnerships with local organisations such asSoftcat in Ireland.
This expansion is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.
Robert Ekstrom, EMEA GM and VP Sales at Workato commented: “Ireland is fast becoming a leading global technology hub and with Workato’s aim to help organizations work faster and smarter without compromising security and governance, it allows us to support businesses in a new region. Not only this is an exciting opportunity to scale Workato’s operations, but to be partnering collaboratively with IDA Ireland. We look forward to continuing and building on this partnership.”
To learn more about Workato and the future of automation, please visitwww.workato.com.
Toast, Inc., the all-in-one digital platform built for restaurants, today celebrated the opening of its new office on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Toast CEO Chris Comparato and Senior Vice President of Engineering Robert McGarry were joined by Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail Damien English TD, IDA Ireland, guests and Toast staff members to launch the new office and to welcome the news that the company is on track to create 100 jobs in 2022 across several functions including software development, sales and customer support.
Toast is a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform purpose-built for the entire restaurant community. Toast provides a single platform of software as a service, or SaaS, products and financial technology solutions that give restaurants everything they need to run their business across point of sale, operations, digital ordering and delivery, marketing and loyalty, and team management. Headquartered in Boston, Toast was founded in 2012 and today employs over 3,000 people across the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and India. Toast established its first international technology and product development centre in Dublin in 2017. Toast has enjoyed a partnership with the Irish government through IDA Ireland, and Ireland continues to strategically contribute to the growth of the company’s talent base and innovation capabilities.
Welcoming the news Minister of State Damien English said “I am delighted to welcome this announcement from Toast, which will see the creation of 100 new jobs as part of their Irish expansion. I am happy to hear that the jobs will be in a range of areas including software development, sales and customer support. It shows that Ireland continues to be a location of choice for FDI thanks to the large pool of highly skilled workforce we have and can attract. The concept of a one stop shop for restaurants to manage all their digital needs shows great innovation and I’ve no doubt it will be welcomed by many companies in the industry. I wish Toast all the best with their new office in Dublin and with their future endeavours in Ireland.”
Robert McGarry, Senior Vice President of Engineering for Toast and leader of Toast Dublin office said “Toast originally chose to invest in Ireland largely for its concentration of high level technical capability; over the last several years, we’ve come to reap so many more benefits from our strategic investment here–ease of collaboration with other Toast teams, Irish hospitality, and more. We look forward to more fruitful days to come for Toast in Ireland.”
Commenting on the announcement Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland said “This expansion underlines the company’s commitment to Ireland. It builds on Ireland’s reputation as both an established software hub in Europe and as a strategic location of choice for driving international growth. I wish the team at Toast every success in the new office here in Ireland.”
The new Dublin office will include elements such as:
Spaces to facilitate open collaboration and socialisation, and flexible “neighborhoods” to support growth;
Top of the line technology to better connect our Toast employees whether at home or across the globe;
Reception design inspired by an open market; and
A community gathering area (cafeteria) designed to resemble a restaurant.
To learn more about current opportunities at Toast, visit the company’s careers site.
The Wireless Broadband Alliance(WBA) and City of Dublin today announced a successful proof-of-concept trial of OpenRoaming™ in Dublin, Ireland. Initially deployed at Bernardo Square, Dame Street and the City Council’s Amphitheatre, WBA OpenRoaming enables residents and visitors to log in only once and then maintain seamless connectivity as their smartphones, tablets and other Wi-Fi devices automatically switch between different public Wi-Fi hotspots. The success of the trial will pave the way for a larger city-wide deployment.
Dublin is a high growth city. It currently has a population in the Greater Dublin Area of around 2.02 million and is anticipated to grow to 2.2 million by 2031. It houses 30% of the country’s working population and attracts over 6.6 million overseas visitors a year. It is anticipated that OpenRoaming will be initially rolled out on over 150 AP’s across Dublin city.
Now available at over 1 million hotspots worldwide, WBA OpenRoaming frees users from the need to constantly re-register or re-enter log-in credentials — all while maintaining enterprise-grade security and privacy. The WBA OpenRoaming standard also enables enterprises, device OEMs, service providers and others to provide performance guarantees and — with Wi-Fi 6 and 6E— a carrier-grade experience as users roam between different public Wi-Fi venues.
The trial, initiated by Dublin City Council’s Smart Dublin programme and supported by the WBA and Virgin Media, also involved participation from CommScope and represents a key a milestone toward achieving Dublin’s smart city goals, which include:
Providing communities, residents and businesses with seamless access to services online, as well as high-quality connectivity
Giving tourists and other visitors free, secure, high-performance Wi-Fi access. Once they arrive and log on to an OpenRoaming-enabled hotspot, their device is automatically authenticated for use every time it switches to another OpenRoaming-enabled hotspot. This convenience makes it easier for them to find what they need, such as restaurant recommendations, transit schedules, directions and more.
This seamless, secure experience ensures that they have the broadband connectivity they need for interactive immersive learning, research, hybrid study and more.
Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, said: “Wi-Fi is the foundation for smart cities. This successful proof-of-concept trial shows that that the City of Dublin and its residents, businesses and visitors all can depend on the WBA OpenRoaming standard to ensure that they always have convenient access to seamless, secure, carrier-grade Wi-Fi connectivity.”
Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead, for the City of Dublin, said: “Dublin is at the forefront of a digital transformation that is serving as a model for other municipalities across Ireland and the world. Collaborations like this are key to the delivery of convenient, reliable and ubiquitous connectivity which is critical for achieving our smart city goals such as closing the digital divide and ensuring that government is responsive to the needs of citizens and businesses. This successful trial of WBA OpenRoaming is a milestone toward achieving all those goals.”
Bart Giordano, SVP Ruckus Networks, CommScope, said: ““As a founding partner in the OpenRoaming framework, we are pleased to announce with the WBA the successful launch of the OpenRoaming initiative and network for the City of Dublin. OpenRoaming brings the promise of seamless and secure connectivity to users and IoT devices all over the world. The core elements of OpenRoaming are in line with those of the Ruckus Network portfolio: cloud federation, cybersecurity, policy and automation. We look forward to expanding the City of Dublin’s network and capabilities and supporting OpenRoaming deployments worldwide. “
Aidan Darcy, VP Business & Wholesale at Virgin Media Ireland said: “It’s fantastic to be working with Dublin City Council on such an important initiative. Given the fact that we are the official provider of both the Wi-Fi and broadband infrastructure, we are able to offer cutting-edge broadband speeds and an exceptional Wi-Fi experience for residents and tourists availing of the new Dublin City Wi-Fi Zones. We’re passionate about connecting communities and, with this new initiative, we really feel we’ll be creating connections for good.”
Launched in May 2020, WBA OpenRoaming is now in Release 3, which will make the business and commercial aspects of roaming easier than ever before and importantly, cut back on hundreds of hours of legal and administrative time when establishing roaming settlement agreements.
World Wi-Fi Day – 20th June 2022
This announcement comes just before World Wi-Fi Day (an annual WBA initiative), a global platform to recognize and celebrate the significant role Wi-Fi is playing in getting cities and communities around the world connected.
It is aunique opportunity to reflect on how we can reduce digital poverty through innovative projects that will connect the unconnected.
About the Wireless Broadband Alliance
Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is the global organization that connects people with the latest Wi-Fi initiatives. Founded in 2003, the vision of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to drive seamless, interoperable service experiences via Wi-Fi within the global wireless ecosystem. WBA’s mission is to enable collaboration between service providers, technology companies, cities, regulators and organizations to achieve that vision. WBA’s membership is comprised of major operators, identity providers and leading technology companies across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision.
WBA undertakes programs and activities to address business and technical issues, as well as opportunities, for member companies. WBA work areas include standards development, industry guidelines, trials, certification and advocacy. Its key programs include NextGen Wi-Fi, OpenRoaming, 5G, IoT, Testing & Interoperability and Policy & Regulatory Affairs, with member-led Work Groups dedicated to resolving standards and technical issues to promote end-to-end services and accelerate business opportunities.
The WBA Boardincludes Airties, AT&T, Boingo Wireless, Broadcom, BT, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom AG, Google, Intel and Viasat. For the complete list of current WBA members, click here.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Europe’s top tech entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders via 3D hologram today, compelling the region’s most influential innovators to donate financial and technological resources to begin rebuilding Ukraine. At 4.20pm today, President Zelensky addressed seven tech events across Europe, including Dublin Tech Summit at the RDS.
Even amidst the devastation of war, Zelensky said Ukraine continues to develop and pledged to make digital transformation central to his nation’s rebuild.
“Our goal is to make Ukraine the freest digital state in the world,” he said, touching on some of the technologies his government plans to champion as it rolls out a digitally driven rebuild via the United24 platform.
“Ukraine is a chance for a global digital revolution,” he said; “a chance for every technology company and a chance for every visionary to show their value, skills, technologies and ambitions.”
ARHT Media’s holographic technology enabled the President to appear on stage simultaneously at four of Europe’s largest tech festivals: Stockholm’s Brilliant Minds, London’s Founders Forum, Amsterdam’s The Next Web and Paris’ Vivatech.
His holographic telepresence, produced by Talesmith, was also live-streamed to Dublin Tech Summit, The AI Summit at London Tech Week and SuperReturn Berlin, expanding the reach of his address to 200,000 leaders across every vertical of the tech industry.
Evercoast’s portable volumetric video system captured the address in 3D for a mobile augmented reality experience, available through the below QR codes:
A range of public figures including Gayle King, Nile Rogers, Peter Gabriel, Bernard Henri-Lévy, Amanda Holden, Ozwald Boateng, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also appeared on stage in hologram and video formats, lending messages of support to the people of Ukraine before introducing Zelensky’s hologram. Ukrainian tech founders, Irra Ariella Khi and Dima Shvets also shared heart-felt messages on stage.
Brent Hoberman, Founders Forum Group’s Co-Founder and Executive Chairman said the FF Group joined forces with Europe’s leading tech events and partnered with ARHT and Evercoast to amplify the reach of President Zelensky’s crucial rebuild message.
“We wanted to enable the President to share this important message via hologram and 3D avatar to exemplify the world-changing innovation the tech community is capable of delivering, and to inspire our network to develop and deploy new technologies that can help rebuild Ukraine.”
Evercoast’s volumetric capture hardware used for the project is being donated to the Ukrainian government, to enable continued communications in extended reality formats. ARHT is also donating the updated equipment used for the hologram capture to The Junior Academy of Science Ukraine, located in Kyiv. The production was made on location in Kyiv and at Garden Studios in London.
The project was created by Martin Williams (Talesmith) and Thomas Hoegh (Garden Studios), directed by Martin Williams, and produced by Mark Wright (Talesmith) and Thomas Hoegh.
About Founders Forum
Founders Forum Group is an event-powered community and family of businesses supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys.
FF’s invite-only forums unite founders, investors, corporate and government leaders to tackle era-defining questions in iconic locations across the globe. This year’s event line-up includes flagship forums in Singapore, London, New York and Berlin.
Since 2019, Founders Forum has partnered with Informa Tech to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK tech through London Tech Week. The joint venture allows London Tech Week to enrich its impact and expand its reach with sector-specific and diversity-driven events including ClimateTech, Elevating Founders, EQL Her, the Future of Work summit, and HealthTech.
Fuelled by the connections and ideas forged at the group’s flagship events, Founders Forum businesses support the needs of today’s founders via education (01 Founders, Framework, Smartup, and the Centre for Entrepreneurs’ NEF+ programme), professional services (Founders Keepers, Founders Law), networking (Grip), investment (Creator Fund, Founders Factory and firstminute capital) and charitable giving (Founders Pledge). In 2021, the group sold its innovation strategy consulting firm, Founders Intelligence, to global consultancy, Accenture.
About Talesmith
Talesmith is a multi-award winning production company at the forefront of premium factual content for broadcast, museums, cinema, immersive AR and cutting-edge VR. Its BAFTA and Emmy-winning leadership team of Martin Williams, Ruth Roberts and Mark Wright has worked across some of television’s most successful factual productions of recent years, partnering with A-list talent including Sir David Attenborough, Prince William and President Obama. As an ambitious and innovative company, Talesmith constantly pushes the boundaries of storytelling, embracing new technologies and techniques.
About Thomas Hoegh
Thomas is the founder of Arts Alliance and Garden Studios. He focuses on user experience from a creative, strategic and economic point of view. His background as an artist and businessman forms the core aspect of Arts Alliance’s competitive edge. As an artist, Thomas has directed over 20 major theatre, television and multimedia performance pieces in Norway,
Japan and the United States. He has backed, built and scaled 50 tech and media businesses across the world.
About AHRT Media
ARHT Media is the global leader in live hologram technology with a wide array of solutions for all kinds of applications and the largest holographic telepresence network across the world. ARHT beams presenters to appear remotely as lifelike, interactive holograms for real-time interactions and online via its Virtual Global Stage™. Its latest innovation, CAPSULE, is a new touchscreen 4K hologram display capable of creating memorable interactive experiences that completely reimagine viewer engagement and open even more applications for holograms. With proprietary end-to-end technology, ARHT can capture, transmit and display holograms of presenters in high-quality and ultra-low latency, offering a sense of presence and delivering great impact.
About Evercoast
Evercoast enables a new age of content and communication in the form of 3D digital humans. They provide industry-leading capture, rendering, and streaming of high-quality, cost-effective 3D volumetric video for use in virtual production, mobile augmented reality, virtual reality, and the growing metaverse. Evercoast’s cloud software platform powers real-time telepresence and recorded 3D digital humans for clients like Verizon, Comcast, WarnerMedia, AbbVie, NYU, Providence Health, and others.
Event Partners
About The AI Summit London
The AI Summit London is where commercial AI comes to life. Brought to you by Informa Tech, and as the headline AI event of London Tech Week, the summit attracts a stellar audience – ranging from tech giants and FTSE boardrooms to policymakers, technical leaders and start-ups – who gather each year to network, learn and champion positive digital change for business and society. The London event is the European activation of The AI Summit Series, which also runs in New York, Singapore and Austin each year. Together these events provide a global platform for a diverse range of individuals to discuss and explore the transformative power of AI – whether that be enterprise application, vendor development, policy formation or sustainability initiatives.
About Brilliant Minds
Brilliant Minds Foundation is a global platform for creative individuals to come together on world-changing ideas. The aim of the Brilliant Minds Foundation is to be the foremost future-gazing impact organisation and support founders with transformative ideas that make the world more sustainable, creative and collaborative.
Brilliant Minds Foundation is rooted in Swedish values of openness, transparency, equality, trust and social responsibility. It is Brilliant Minds’ ability to convene a unique and diverse set of pioneers who inspire, build bridges, fearlessly innovate and display extraordinary leadership that equips the organisation to accomplish its mission of accelerating positive impact.
Every year in Stockholm, Brilliant Minds brings together the most creative and influential individuals in the world. It has welcomed attendees and speakers including President Barack Obama, Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Campbell, Secretary John Kerry, Yuri Milner, Evan Spiegel, David M. Solomon, Solina Chau, Diane von Furstenberg, Greta Thunberg, Eric Schmidt, Pharrell Williams, Marina Abramovic, Ted Sarandos (Netflix), Forest Whitaker, Robyn, The Weeknd, Jack Dorsey, Musk Family, Tove Lo, Swedish House Mafia and many more outstanding people.
About The Next Web
The world is changing with the speed of tech. And The Next Web has its fingers firmly on its pulse. The Next Web is a global super connector for startups, scaleups, corporations, governments and funding providers. Multiplying their journeys through media, events, innovation programs and co-working spaces. Its annual conference has been a mainstay in the agendas of startups, investors, corporates and governments alike for over a decade, drawing 10,000 visitors from all over the world to the tech hub of Amsterdam each year. There, serious business mixes with serious fun to build what’s next in tech, now. The Next Web is a Financial Times company.
About VivaTech
VivaTech is the biggest startup and tech event in Europe and is recognized worldwide as a powerful catalyst for business transformation, startup growth and innovation for the common good. Since 2016, VivaTech has brought together in Paris the world’s top business leaders, startups, investors, researchers and thinkers for a unique experience combining inspiration, networking and a showcase for innovation. Starting with the 2021 edition, VivaTech is now enriched with a digital platform that connects a global community of innovators.
About Dublin Tech Summit
Dublin Tech Summit (DTS) provides a uniquely intimate Irish cultural and networking experience, connecting the AtlanTECH community by providing a gateway for global tech leaders to meet and debate what is happening next in our fast-paced world. Dublin Tech Summit aims to foster stronger cooperation across ecosystems, connect tech communities, and develop long-lasting partnerships that will drive innovation and entrepreneurship into our shared future. Founded in 2015, the first summit was held in 2017.
About SuperReturn
SuperReturn International is the world’s largest and most prestigious private capital conference, bringing together an unrivalled gathering of C-suite and other senior executives from leading institutional investors, private capital investors and service providers from across the globe for 4 days to network and share valuable strategic insights. The conference, which has been running for 24 years, is widely acknowledged to be a must-attend in the industry’s annual calendar.
The organisers of this year’s Dublin Tech Summit (DTS) say they expect a surge in demand for pints of Guinness, an increase in the number of selfies and a spike in hotel accommodation ahead of next week’s leading technology conference. Taking place at the RDS in Dublin on the 15th and 16th of June, it marks the event’s return to a physical capacity after 2 years of being held virtually due to COVID.
Over 8,000 attendees, 200 speakers, 150 startups and 65 partners from over 50 countries are expected to turnout for the conference which attracts the world’s biggest names in technology and innovation. It also provides early stage companies with opportunities to get recognised as the latest up and coming tech players across Europe. With over 150 staff involved in the organisation of the event, it is expected that:
2,500 pints of Guinness will be consumed by attendees over the course of 2 days
8,000 phones will be used with a minimum of 160,000 whatsapp messages sent
1,000 selfies will be taken
400 hotel beds will be occupied
2,500 cups of coffee will be enjoyed
This year’s speakers include Frank McCourt, owner of football club Olympique de Marseille, and founder and CEO of Unfinished, Christopher Wylie, Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower, Tyson Singer, VP of Technology and Platform, Spotify, Bryan Che, CSO, Huawei, Eileen O’Meara, Head of EMEA Revenue & Growth, Stripe, Harry D. Moseley, Global Chief Information Officer, Zoom, and more. Topics for discussion include: cybersecurity, e-commerce, sustainability, finance digitisation and more.
Dublin Tech Summit 2022 reinforces Ireland’s position on the world stage as being a European Hub for tech. Dubbed ‘Europe’s Silicon Valley’ the event aims to highlight Ireland’s attractiveness as a tech destination – playing host to the tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter amongst others. According to IDA Ireland, the ICT industry in Ireland employs over 37 thousand people and generates €35 billion in exports annually. In addition to this, figures from The Irish Advantage reveal Ireland has the highest proportion of high-growth enterprises in the EU.
DTS 2022 will bring together the brightest tech innovators, influencers and entrepreneurs globally, highlighting the capabilities and creativity all of which form part of a wider tech ecosystem.
Speaking ahead of the event, Tracey Carney, MD of DTS, said:
“We’re so excited to see the return of the physical event after a two-year hiatus. DTS presents such a fantastic opportunity for networking and while we were delighted to be able to hold the event virtually over the last two years, it’s really brilliant to be back in the RDS. Our team has grown significantly to expand into the live event and we’re really looking forward to two great days on June 15th and 16th.”
International money transfer and foreign exchange services provider OFX has announced the establishment of OFX Payments Ireland Limited as its European HQ in Dublin. The announcement comes as the company is targeting Ireland and the EU as growth markets for its business. OFX recently announced Maeve McMahon as its CEO and growth leader for the region.
OFX expects to create an additional 15 jobs at the Dublin base to manage its European operations. The Irish based operation will include compliance, risk, finance, operations, and sales. Following the successful migration of the European business from the UK entity post Central Bank of Ireland authorisation, the Irish operation will be responsible for managing the European portfolio.
OFX offers an innovative and competitive alternative to banks for businesses who trade across borders and to consumers who send money overseas. The establishment of the European HQ in Dublin comes at a time when other financial organisations are leaving the market and customers are seeking alternative service providers.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the company has eight offices across the world with more than 650 staff. OFX helps businesses and consumers make international money transfers at great rates in over 50 currencies, across 170 countries. Through its ‘digital + human’ business model, OFX complements its simple, self-service online platform with 24/7 localised customer support. Customers can speak to staff (called OFXperts) anytime, day or night. OFX also specialises in currency risk management for SMEs who trade overseas, helping businesses to protect themselves from the risk associated with volatile currency markets.
The Irish operation, OFX Payments Ireland Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary of OFX Group Limited and is located at Fitzwilliam Court, 2 Leeson Close, Dublin 2, D02 YW24, Ireland. A team of key senior personnel have already been hired including the CEO, Head of Risk and Compliance, Compliance Associate, Head of Finance and Operations, a Finance and Operations Manager and several Business Development Managers and Executives.
Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Seán Fleming TD, said “I’m delighted that OFX has chosen Ireland as its location for its European Headquarters. These new positions are particularly welcome as the Government seeks to grow Ireland’s status as a global hub for fintech. Ireland is a really attractive destination for financial services, due in a large part to our strong talent pool and expertise in the sector. The very best of luck to the entire team and I look forward to following their success into the future.”
In Dublin at the announcement global CEO of OFX Skander Malcolm said “We are excited by the opportunities for growth in our business in Ireland and across the EU region. Establishing an office in Ireland is a key part of our strategy for growing in the region and gives us an excellent base from which to manage our operations. OFX is about helping businesses access great exchange rates and trade across borders with ease. And we want to help businesses protect themselves and manage risk in their currency transactions. In the volatile environment we’re currently in, this is even more important.”
IDA Ireland’s Head of International Financial Services, Kieran Donoghue, said: “This investment by OFX is a welcome addition to the already strong online foreign exchange, international money transfer and payments ecosystem which has developed here. As an innovative and fast-growing financial services company, OFX will further enhance Ireland’s reputation as a location for Financial Services, Technology, Content and Fintech companies from the Asia-Pacific region. I wish to thank OFX for their investment and wish them every success and our continuing support as they develop their business from Ireland.”
The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is now in its fifth year. Ireland’s only International Film Festival dedicated to filmmakers exclusively using mobile devices (Phones & Tablets) is finally going mainstream with a partnership with the Irish Film Institute. Taking place on April 30th-DubSmartFF has the usual exciting mix of shorts, features and workshops, but this time at a beautiful venue at the heart of Ireland’s capital.
This year’s festival is bigger than ever with filmmaking workshops, a range of short films from 15 countries around the globe, feature films (a first for the festival) and the premiere of an exceptional documentary Are Your Eyes Nicely Open? from award-winning director S.J. van Breda.
The partnership with the IFI is an amazing opportunity for the filmmaking community. The festival team has worked for five years to build a community of mobile filmmakers and this is an exciting culmination of their efforts to finally bringing these talented filmmakers to a wider audience.
The festival programmers have worked to create an outstanding programme with a focus on strong original concepts and inventive use of the technology. This year the festival teams up with SV Assets, Dreamgrip, Shoulder pod, Alight Creative, Refurbed.ie, Conns Cameras and Pair Mobile as well as Ireland’s premium tech site Goosed.ie to provide amazing prizes and gifts for some lucky filmmakers.
Festival Director Robert Fitzhugh commented: “We just could not believe the success of the festival in the past four years. We sell out each year before the doors even open. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have brought about an incredible period of creativity with people forced to use the tools they have at their disposal to tell stories. This partnership with the IFI means we have an opportunity to showcase these filmmakers to a wider audience and a chance to legitimize their hard work. Despite the current situation we all find ourselves in there has never been a more interesting time to explore Smartphone filmmaking. This is what the Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is here to do; to encourage the next generation of filmmakers to create their stories using their phones and to provide them with the widest possible platform to present these stories to a wider audience”
IFI’s Head of Education, Alicia McGivern said:IFI is delighted to partner with DUBSMARTFF 2022, expanding our programme with work in a new format, and opening up our historic building as both screening venue and location to smartphone filmmakers. The collaboration gives us a chance to reach new audiences and to engage with next generation filmmakers, inspired by the energy and creativity of the DUBSMARTFF team.
The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival will take place on the 30th of April 2022 at the Irish Film Institute and online from May 1st to May 7th
