Tag: needs

Easco to Showcase Ireland’s First Mobile Phone Brand at IFA Berlin 2025 with New Android Model

Easco, Ireland’s first homegrown mobile phone brand, will debut its latest product lineup at IFA Berlin 2025 this September. The company will reveal a brand-new Android smartphone, alongside its previously announced feature phone range, including a modern flip phone and  bar device, both designed with accessibility, safety, and simplicity in mind.

Easco’s mission is to provide mobile devices that promote Ease of Communication while addressing the overexposure of children and vulnerable individuals to smartphones and social media. The phones are engineered specifically for young teens, elderly users, and those with special needs, making up over 20% of Ireland’s population.

Key features include:

  • Distinctive Irish design (green, black, and gold) inspired by heritage brands
  • 4G calling and SMS without internet browsing or app stores (on feature phones)
  • Ultra-Wideband (UWB) tracking for safety—first in a global feature phone
  • Simplified UI, large tactile buttons, and an external display
  • New Android smartphone, offering parents and users more control with smart functions

“As the first mobile phone brand to be born in Ireland, we’re proud to build devices that reflect the Irish culture and meet the real communication needs of underserved users,” said Hao Lee, founder of Easco.

IFA Berlin 2025 runs from 5-9th of September, and Easco will be exhibiting in the MicFlip booth.

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Smart Docklands Announces €50,000 seed fund investment into Four Pilot Projects to Address Community Need

Smart Docklands is delighted to announce the winners of its first Call for Pilots. The programme is delivered in partnership between Dublin City Council and the CONNECT Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks headquartered at Trinity College Dublin

Smart Docklands is one of Dublin’s flagship smart districts – a unique collaboration across academia, industry and local government to advocate for and pilot community centred technology innovations.

This Call for Pilots aims to tackle key community priorities identified through a community survey that was carried out in late 2023 and early 2024 where insights were gathered from over 300 responses. Smart Docklands ensures that smart tech is not just being deployed for ‘tech’s sake’, the programme works to engage directly with the community who live in, work in or visit the Docklands. This is done through in-person events and innovative approaches to community surveys.

After extensive community engagement, followed by a Call for Pilots four projects have now been selected out of 41 applications that were submitted to receive seed funding, with €12,500 allocated to each project. The winning pilots will tackle pressing challenges across environmental monitoring, community development, and antisocial behaviour, aiming to create a more sustainable, inclusive, and enjoyable Docklands for all.

 

Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead on announcing the pilot winners at an event in the Dublin City Council Innovation Hub in the CHQ said:

“These pilot projects highlight how technology can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. By directly engaging with the community, we’ve chosen initiatives to address the Docklands’ community concerns around sustainability, youth engagement and environmental concerns. We are super excited to be working with such an amazing group of innovators and entrepreneurs who all want to make a difference for the Docklands community!”.

Professor Dan Kilper, Director CONNECT Centre, Trinity College Dublin said: 

“The CONNECT Centre is proud to partner with Smart Docklands on the Pilot Projects, which play an important role in demonstrating the transformative impact technology can have when guided by community needs. These initiatives create solutions that address real challenges and pave the way for a smarter, more sustainable future. The pilot winners’ projects highlight this important work—congratulations to them and to our colleagues at Smart Docklands.”

The four pilot winners are:

  • UTS Technologies – River Liffey Water Sensors: This project introduces a network of sensors along the River Liffey to deliver real-time data on water behaviour, supporting a diverse range of users including kayaking and boating. The aim of this initiative is to bring an improved understanding and actionable insights for users of the river and to support more sustainable river management.
  • UCD – Count Docklands: Deploying a network of citizen science traffic monitoring, low-cost, camera-based traffic counters across the Docklands. This will empower citizen scientists to gather crucial data, supporting Dublin’s transport goals improving community engagement in urban mobility planning and traffic monitoring.
  • UCD – Craft My Street: Highly innovative youth engagement leveraging open-source geospatial data and Minecraft for crowd mapping through interactive multiplayers gaming. This pilot aims to support young people to actively participate in shaping policies and projects that affect their communities.
  • HoloGen – Immersive Graffiti: Leveraging AR/VR technology to teach young people about street art, this project turns illegal tagging into an opportunity for learning and expressing art in a safe virtual space. The aim of which is to reduce illegal graffiti and a boost in creative urban expression.

The Smart Docklands programme established in 2017 has a track record of collaboration where academia, local government, industry, and residents come together to address urban challenges through innovation and deployment of new and emerging technologies. The Call for Pilots is a testament to the programme’s commitment to ensuring that technology serves real community needs.

Smart Docklands’ first Call for Pilots represents a milestone in creating a connected, innovative, and engaged urban environment. By addressing key challenges through collaboration, education, and smart technology, these pilot projects highlight the benefit of what smart districts can achieve.

Smart Docklands extend thanks to Accenture, An Post, IPB Insurance, and National College Ireland for their support in evaluating applications. Their expertise and collaboration have been crucial to ensuring a fair and thorough process, highlighting the power of collective effort.

For more information about Smart Docklands and its initiatives, visit https://smartdocklands.ie/

Survey reveals 43% of business leaders don’t think they have adequate staffing resources to meet current business needs

I.T. Alliance Resourcing Services, part of the I.T. Alliance Group, today announces the findings of a survey which reveal that 43% of business leaders don’t think they have adequate staffing resources to meet current business needs. Furthermore, a third (33%) don’t think they have the adequate technological resources to meet current business needs.

The survey of 100 c-suite executives in larger companies or enterprises (more than 250 employees) across Ireland – carried out by Censuswide – also showed that almost half (45%) of executives are expecting to increase staff numbers in 2023. The sectors where hiring is most likely were found to be healthcare          (88%), finance (67%), and HR (67%).

Meanwhile, 46% of business leaders are in the process of rightsizing their team and the same proportion (46%) are reviewing their workspace requirements with plans to either reduce or close office space in 2023.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the lack of resources, 46% have witnessed employee burnout in their organisation. In terms of the sectors where this was most prevalent, manufacturing and utilities came out top (71%), followed by finance (67%) and HR (67%).

Among the business leaders surveyed, more than one in three (35%) have suffered from burnout themselves. Those working in healthcare were most impacted (63%).

At the other end of the spectrum, 39% of business leaders admitted to facing issues around quiet quitting (a trend where employees put no more effort into their jobs than is absolutely necessary).

Despite these challenges, almost half (44%) of business leaders are optimistic their business will grow in 2023 and 52% don’t think there will be a recession. The optimism around business growth in 2023 was highest among respondents working in HR (67%), arts and culture (60%), and IT and telecoms (55%).

Paul Schmitz, Group Sales Director, I.T. Alliance, commented: “The world of work has undoubtedly changed with hybrid workstyles remaining at the fore for many Irish organisations. As well as workstyles, business leaders are currently reviewing their requirements around workforces and workspaces to find the best way forward, plan for the future and ensure they can fulfil their own objectives.

“With this in mind, coupled with the current economic climate and the ever-present skills gap, it’s clear that companies need to be more fluid and agile than ever when it comes to their resourcing capabilities. This means balancing the current demand for services and their long-term plans, which can be incredibly difficult.

“While businesses don’t want to overestimate requirements around resources, as many have done in recent years, they also can’t afford to pass up opportunities to drive growth due to a lack of people or skills. By engaging with resourcing partners, businesses can better plan their strategies and budgets, while taking advantage of the ability to scale up or down for projects as and when needed.”