This year’s competition paid tribute to George Boole whose bicentenary is being celebrated this year. Boole was the first Professor of Mathematics at University College Cork and is described as the ‘fore father of the information age’. Students participating in this year’s competition were required to demonstrate creative and original ideas in the development of their business or bank, highlighting how their experience mirrored George Boole’s entrepreneurial ability and creative genius.

The 2015 winners are:

1^st Place: “Changes“, Bishopstown Community School, Cork.  

2^nd Place: “Cúpla Úlla”, Nagle Rice Secondary School, Doneraile, Co. Cork. 

3^rd Place: “School of Sound”, Tullow Community School, Tullow, Co. Carlow.

Special recognition was also given to Maria Immaculata Community College, Dunmanway for submitting consistently high calibre projects.

Certificate in Supervisory Management (FETAC Level 6)

Course Dates: 2^nd, 8^th & 15^th June & 10^th July

Member Rate: €525.00

The main purpose of this programme is to provide candidates with the tools and techniques necessary to work in a supervisory management role. You will learn the key areas of management such as roles and responsibilities, employment legislation, recruitment, performance management, data protection, operational planning and budgeting.

If you are new to the management area, thinking of moving or are an existing manager, this course is ideal for you.

At the end of this programme, successful participants will be able to:

1. List the roles and responsibilities of a supervisor/line manager;
2. Analyse the process of staff recruitment;
3. Identify the key areas of workplace legislation and best practice in staff supervision;
4. List the main provisions of the Data Protection Act;
5. Develop operations manuals for work-related procedures, including systems for records management;
6. Prepare departmental budgets, taking into account a range of potential expenses such as labour and material costs, insurances and contingency;
7. Identify best practices in the ongoing training and development of their staff;

Manage performance and conduct effective performance appraisals.

A Morning of Networking with UK Business Delegation
including a breakfast briefing featuring guest-speaker Naomi Fein, CEO of Think Visual

The EEN at Cork Chamber is offering local businesses the opportunity to meet a UK business delegation led by the EEN from the Midlands (UK) on Wednesday 24 June in the Clarion Hotel. 

The morning will begin with a breakfast briefing, where Cork companies will have the opportunity to meet and network with the UK visitors.  Guest speaker at the breakfast will be Naomi Fein, CEO and lead graphic harvester of Think Visual (see below for full biography).  Naomi will address the idea of creative thinking and visual communication as a means of crossing inter-cultural barriers, which is particularly relevant for businesses that are targeting new markets.

 Following the breakfast briefing, there will be an opportunity to take part in a B2B matchmaking session with the visiting UK delegates, where companies will be able to explore potential synergies through 1:1 meetings.  These meetings must be booked in advance.  Please contact eimear@corkchamber.ie to specify which of the companies below you would be interested in meeting.

The participating UK companies include:
1. High Force Research Ltd. 
2. Martec of Whitwell Ltd. 
3. MD Advisory 
4. Pharma Glass Vials and Closures Ltd. 
5. Repeat Software Ltd. 
6. Shelton's Coffee 
7. Soutron Ltd. 
8. Tarvin Precision Ltd. 

About the Speaker:

Naomi Fein, CEO and lead graphic harvester of Think Visual.  She is a fast creative thinker, who after over 15 years of illustration and design work, combined with group facilitation, has the ability to capture abstract knowledge and transform it into clear visual outputs on the spot. Through her new company, she and her team work closely with influential thinkers and leaders of global companies. Helping them to visualise complex ideas found in varied areas such as finance, technology, pharma, science, leadership, culture and others. Their impressive visual outputs help make the knowledge memorable, actionable and shareable. Naomi recently won the 2015 Network Ireland Cork Businesswoman of the Year award.

For further information about the UK companies visit here, or contact Katherine@corkchamber.ie for further information.

ICT in the Societal Challenges, Brokerage and Networking Event, 2nd July, Griffith College, Dublin

This event is being organised in association with Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland. ICT is a prevalent theme across the societal challenges in Horizon 2020 and the aim of the event is to bring together the ICT research community with each of the research communities from the societal challenges in Horizon 2020, in preparation for the forthcoming launch of the 2016-2017 work programmes.  There will be booths and stands for industrial leadership and Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) will present also. The event is open to the research community in academia and industry, north and south of the border. The event should be of interest to researchers interested in submitting proposals in these areas.  

 Agenda

10:30 Registration and welcome coffee

11:00 Presentation by EU Commission (Thierry Boulangé, DG CONNECT, European Commission)

12:00 10 X 5 minute presentations from ICT research groups

13:15 Lunch

14:00 Parallel sessions for each of the Societal Challenges, brokerage, and elevator pitches, etc.

16:00 END

Click here to register for the event and to choose which parallel session you would like to attend. Upon registration, you will receive an email to confirm your registration, along with a link to the venue and parking details. The closing date for registrations is Friday, 26^th June.

For further information about this event, please contact either catriona.ward@enterprise-ireland.com or Anne-marie.daly@enterprise-ireland.com.

Predict Conference & Brokerage Event, 15th-17th September 2015, RDS Dublin

The Conference

The Predict Conference Dublin takes place from the 15th-17th September 2015 at the RDS Dublin. This interactive conference will feature leading international thinkers in the areas of data, predictive models, technology and decision making.
The Predict Conference's goal is to democratise big data modelling and make it accessible and available to everyone. It will be an interactive meeting designed to demystify big data analytics and introduce you to people who can help.

The Brokerage Event

As part of the Conference, Enterprise Europe Network Ireland in association with Enterprise Europe Network Northern Ireland will host an international brokerage event on Wednesday 16 September. 

How does it work?
The Brokerage Event will give registered participants the opportunity to meet potential business or technology partners in pre-arranged face to face meetings.

The focus of the event will be on;

• Predictive Analytics - Impact on Business Decisions
• Technology - Hardware and Software - From Data to Decisions
• The Data Age - Data Generation & Expert Models
• Business Impact - Case Studies
• Data Science - Mathematical Methods & Predictive Modelling
• Human Health - Food Safety, Nutrition, Predictive Intake Modelling & Chemical Exposure

Registration and further details available from the Brokerage website.
Further details of the Predict Conference and registration click here.